


Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

by LusterTolasi



Category: Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, adult trainer
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-11
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-06-07 19:57:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 24,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6821863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LusterTolasi/pseuds/LusterTolasi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With high school done and out of the way I'm finally able to start my journey as a senior trainer. While being an adult gives me a greater deal of freedom, not everyone can appreciate someone who didn't start out eight years ago. But, if my starter is any indication, I think it was worth the wait.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Being given some time to think on my ride to Littleroot, I chuckled at the thought that I live in a world where most soon-to-be ten-year-olds' greatest dream was to pass their Rookie Trainer's License test to be allowed to handle a certifiably dangerous creature to nurture, bond with, and pit against others of its kind in wanton destruction for glory and fame.

I could only shake my head with a small smile. I was one of the few who chose to stay in school instead. Sure, it was a less exciting route to take—and most of the friends I made had left for their journeys—however, there were some nice perks to those who could wait to travel the country.

The savings account my parents set up a little before my birth had another eight years to accumulate savings and interest and would allow me to start off my journey more comfortably. I wasn't required to participate in a government sanctioned league, be it through gyms or contests. I was free to simply roam as long as I could cover my expenses. I could practically taste the freedom and I was on my way to make it official.

The bike ride from my hometown of Rustboro to Littleroot was lengthy but gave me plenty of time to work out what little anxiety I had. I wasn't worried about having missed any information in my schooling; I was worried about my lack of personal experience. There was only so much you could learn from textbooks when it came to traveling the country with a pokemon. Even then, that's not mentioning all the different behaviors they can have or if you can even win them over in the first place. Oh, I hope my starter likes me...

Well, I'd get to that road when I got there. I'd know for sure in the next couple roads as I began to approach the city limits of Littleroot. The town sign greeting me had an odd phrase. What did it mean to have a town that couldn't be shaded any hue? I shrugged and rode past it.

Having never been here myself, I had only had secondhand information on the town's size. Compared to Rustboro City, Littleroot Town was but a small village. The tallest buildings I could see were two-story old-fashioned houses. Honestly, I was a little envious. Everyone here had a home with a front and backyard, some of which seemed to have small gardens or fruit orchards behind their quaint abodes. There wasn't any hustle or bustle to speak of. Even as I took in the sights leisurely riding through town, I would get a small wave from the residents currently outside. The midday, weekend sun was being taken full advantage of by children. Some even had a small pet pokemon running around with them.

Before I knew it I had found my way into what appeared to be their commercial district. I was hoping I'd come across a mart of some kind. I needed to pick up a small something to make a good first impression on my starter. If there was one thing I'd learned, it was that first impressions weren't limited to human beings. Considering most pokemon had a respectable level of sentience to them it came as no surprise to me to discover.

I parked my bike outside what appeared to be the town's market and headed inside, a small chimecho-shaped bell announcing my entry. I could see a couple women and an older gentleman with baskets in hand browsing throughout the store. I grabbed one for my own near the door and returned the small wave given by the clerk on duty. I was surprised at the selection of berries they had. The people around here must have really appreciated their produce. I grabbed several cheri, chesto, pecha, rawst and aspear berries to vary the flavors and a couple oran for if all else failed. Due to how many oran went into potion production they were a little pricey.

I walked back up to the front and placed the basket on the counter in front of the clerk so she could total up my purchase. She appeared to be a low twenty-something brunette and not bad on the eyes at all. A little shorter than most but coming from someone of my stature it wasn't a very fair opinion. Seventy-four inches put me slightly above the average person. She finished punching in the numbers on the register and looked up at me with a smile.

"Will that be all for you today, sir?" Hearing 'sir' directed at me was going to take some getting used to. I replied scratching the back of my head.

"It will be if it's enough to make a good impression."

"Oh? If you don't mind me asking, who are you trying to impress?"

"Heh, if you can believe it, they're for my starter. I'm hoping the old adage of 'the way to the heart is through the stomach' is true."

She looked at me searchingly and slightly confused. "Well, you're obviously not ten." I caught the unasked question.

"Eighteen. I'm one of the ones to complete my full tour of duty in the book war before taking my vacation. As much as a vacation walking around here can be."

She chuckled as she handed me my bag of berries. "I have to respect your patience. Looks like the war didn't take too bad of a toll on you." It was then when the older gentleman I saw earlier walked up in line behind me and joined the conversation.

"I wish more kids these days would take the route you did. They should be grateful for the advances in technology we've had since my childhood. Forty years ago you had to wait until you were twenty-one to have anything past a pet-grade pokemon. There's just something wrong about children roaming the countryside unattended. They're not mature enough." I could only smile and laugh at that.

"I would've been one of those immature roamers if my parents hadn't refused to let me go. I wasn't very happy about it but I've come to appreciate how much it's prepared me for what's to come." I glanced at my poketch to check the time. Graduating was worth it if only for the presents. "Ouch, I spent too much time sightseeing, I have to hurry if I'm making my appointment." I pulled the debit card out of my wallet and swiped it to pay for the berries. "Could either of you share directions to the lab?"

She pointed south. "Take the main street here down towards the sea. It'll be the largest building around here on the left. You can't miss it."

I nodded and smiled before turning for the door. "Thanks. You two have a good day."

She waved goodbye. "I hope things go well for you!"

The gentleman left some parting advice. "Take it easy and look out for the youngsters."

Hearing the door's bell ring behind me, I set the bag of berries into the small carrying case I had on the back of my bicycle to free up my hands and headed further down the road past the small stores. It wasn't long before I had reached the end of their 'downtown' and into another small residential section. A couple minutes more riding took me to the front of Professor Birch's lab. It was the only industrial looking building I'd seen so far in town, with three floors the length of a few of the houses nearby and it being mostly covered in panes of glass. I had to agree when she said I couldn't miss it.

I parked my bike at the rack they had outside and grabbed the bag out of the trunk. I walked through the automatic double doors and had a look at the lobby. The front reception area was by no means large, but was spacious enough for a few chairs and a coffee table for visitors who were waiting. The walls had a couple posters of local events and basic information regarding the league and contest series. All in all it looked like a doctor's office. Well, when I thought about it, it actually was. Every regional professor had a doctorate of some kind.

I finally took notice of the only other visitor, a young boy I couldn't place the age to. Couldn't be older than thirteen judging by the looks of him as he was rather scrawny and small-statured with uncontrolled blonde hair and blue-green eyes. Realizing I was standing there aimlessly, I gave him a sheepish wave and walked up to the receptionist's counter. One of the lab assistants looked up from the computer he was at behind the counter to turn to me.

"Hi, how can I help you?"

"Hi, I have an appointment to get my starter. Jason Alejandro."

"Sorry, could you spell your last name? That's not one I've heard before."

I did so for him and explained. "It's probably because my parents came here from Sevii."

"Ah, I guess that would explain your tan, too. Alright, if you'd have a seat the professor will be out in just a minute."

I nodded my agreement and took a seat in one of the chairs next to the kid, laying my bag in the seat beside me and giving off a sigh. Only a few minutes away from the moment of truth. Keep it together Jason.

"So what'cha seeing the professor for?"

I blinked my eyes open and took a second to register the question. Ah, that was the kid talking to me.

"Sorry about that. I tend to get lost in my thoughts. I'm here for my starter actually." He gaped and looked at me in surprise.

"You mean you haven't even left on your journey yet?!" Lucky me, he had to turn out to be a loud one. Not that I had anything against the younger generation, but I had a feeling I was going to get this reaction a lot and it was going to get old fast.

"Nope, this will be my first day. Well, half-day at least. I graduated out of school in Rustboro last week."

"Wow, that must've sucked." He said it so innocently I had to cover a laugh.

"It wasn't as bad as you think. How about you? What are you here for?" He folded his arms with a pout.

"Paperwork. Mom paid for a cab from Mauville to get me here for my monthly check-in. I was almost ready to try for the badge too! I don't want to have to wait another week!"

"The paperwork couldn't possibly take a week to verify. What's keeping you here?"

"Mom. She keeps me home to make sure I'm ready to go back out. I've had to do this twice already. I can take care of myself now."

"You know she's only worried about you. Be glad that she is, you have all the time in the world."

I saw the side door open up and Professor Birch peek his head out. "Jason?" His eyes looked over the both of us before locking onto mine. He gave me a smile. "Come on back. Are you ready for your first step?"

I took a deep breath and let it out before standing up and walking over with a small grin. "As ready as I'll ever be."

He waved his hand off to the side. "Bah, don't worry, you'll do fine." I followed him through the door but looked back for just a second.

"Don't let the papers get to you. Believe me, there will always be more."

I turned back to follow Birch down a fairly long hallway with multiple doors. I guessed that the rooms were for office work of some sort. It seemed like the laboratories were on a floor above us because we headed to the elevator at the end of the hall. I entered and stood at his side as he pressed the button for the third floor. As the doors slid shut he started to address me.

"We don't get too many these days that start out as a senior. I don't know of many rookies who would willingly hold themselves back. Don't get me wrong, it's much easier to handle this way, but what kept you from coming here earlier?"

I chuckled and looked at him. "Parents. Well, they were the reason up until I was fourteen. They were willing to let me go out as a junior with the few in my class that were going but honestly I didn't mind being in school by that point. I didn't feel I was missing much because we have a pet skitty, the terror that she is regardless."

He laughed back at me. "They usually are, let me tell you. Well, I suppose you became a little more grateful to your parents once you figured out the couple perks you get for holding out that long and passing your finals."

The ping for the third floor sounded as we walked out into its hallway and took a turn down another. The sun lightly shone through the windows and glistened off the several sets of double metal doors on the other side of the hallway.

"It was a welcome incentive. I don't understand why it isn't made common knowledge to grade school students though. It seems like it would keep kids in school and learning earlier." I finished as we stopped at the second room. He slid the key-card hanging off of his neck through a scanner near the door. It beeped and lit up green as the doors automatically opened. I was greeted with a small chamber and another set of these doors. It wasn't what I expected to see. The confusion must have shown because he answered my thought.

"Safety precaution to prevent pokemon from escaping. Even if they slip through the first door the second one won't open until the first is closed. Gives us a chance to get a hold of them again."

We walked into the chamber and the doors closed shut behind us. Once again sliding his card through a scanner, the second pair of doors opened into what looked like a play room. This also wasn't what I expected to see. This wasn't much of a stereotypical laboratory.

"As for your earlier statement, it's not common knowledge because on average for the ones who found out early it actually caused them to focus less on the academics. The younger ones would try to coast through their classes thinking they reaped an easy reward at the end. You also didn't get to know until now that your full choice of a starter here is based on your overall marks. Don't want to cause any potential jealousy and the reason the majority of people don't know this is because it's only told to straight-through seniors." It seemed like such obvious protocol, but it still shocked me.

"So all that studying was worth it!"

He let out a hearty chuckle at my joy. "We'll know for sure once I pull up your transcripts. Why don't you have a little meet and greet here? I'll go in the back and grab the paperwork." He patted my shoulder and headed into what appeared to be the office for this room.

With my attention now turned towards the room, I was impressed at the variety. There was an aide running a a small, black, and scruffy wolf-like dog through a small obstacle course. A bipedal green gecko was working out on a miniature punching bag. A pair of blue-feathered, white-chested, redheaded birds were perched on a shelf near the ceiling watching over the room's antics. A small blue pokemon with a lily pad growing from its back floated lazily in an artificial pond. A pair of foot-long yellow mice, one with red markings and a red plus shaped tail and the other with blue markings and a flat blue bar for a tail, were scampering around the room trying to shock each other. An errant bolt of theirs made the lights flicker for a second. A white and brown furred sloth and sandy colored, brick patterned shrew were in the corner curled up on pillows sleeping.

A poochyena, treecko, taillow, lotad, plusle, minun, slakoth, or sandshrew could all be good potential choices. Well, maybe not the slakoth knowing their sleeping habits.

A sudden bang had me jump and look over my shoulder. I had been curious where the other two rookie starters were; their escalating fight answered that question. The small orange and yellow-feathered chick; a torchic; and a small, blue, quadrupedal fish-like pokemon with thick, orange, whisker-like flaps for cheeks; a mudkip; were butting heads and growling at each other. Just as I was about to get the professor to ask if this was a problem, a flash of white light blinked next to the two. The tiny creature that appeared left me speechless.

I had never seen any of its evolution line in person. The only known group of them was a clan hidden in the forests of Route 102 and even then sightings were few and far between and typically only when a trainer had one. There was no mistaking the mop of green hair, red horn-like protrusions on the front and back of its head, and pillow-like white dress. I couldn't believe I was able to see a ralts on my first day! I heard footsteps and turned to see the professor walking back next to me, papers in hand, shaking his head.

"I swear every day we go through this and I doubt it will change until one of them is adopted out."

I turned to face him, unable to hide the expression of awe still on my face and my hand pointing. "You have a ralts!"

"Hmm? Oh, Clara? Yeah, she's been here nearly a year. She's our intermediary for squabbles like this. She might not seem it at first but if you get her riled she's pretty scary. Those two are the only ones who really get her to that point though. It's even worse when she's woken up from it." He slightly shuddered.

"A year? How has nobody jumped at the chance to train her? They're one of the best yet rarest companions on this entire continent! People would kill for one of them!"

"You said it. That's exactly why no one has been allowed to adopt her yet. There hasn't been a single person qualified to be her trainer. Too many trainers don't see something to nurture when they see a ralts. They see a ticket to status and the greed they feel puts up the ralts' defenses. Despite all the new trainers I've had in this room, she has yet to have warmed up to one."

"Wow, that's... kind of sad, knowing how many people could have accidentally mistreated her."

He grunted in acknowledgment as the fight came to an end with a heated glare from the tiny psychic type that caused the two to back away from her slowly in opposite directions. "Another victory on her part. Well, lets get our little interview over and then you can choose your partner." He motioned me over to a small table on the side of the room. I pulled out and sat in one of the chairs and set my bag down behind me.

"So I know I have the usual forms to fill out but what else does this entail?"

"After I see what you're eligible to adopt, if you don't have a preferred choice of pokemon I'll ask you a few questions to try to narrow down some choices I feel would be a good match. If none of the ones here are a good pairing we can check the Centers' databases for open adoptions. Other than that, you can use the time to ask me any questions you may have regarding your partner or travel. It's a simple process really."

I gave a nod as he cracked open my file and sifted through the papers until he found my high school transcript. Knowing there were a couple pages of teachers' comments alone for him to go over, I turned my head to look over the room again but ended up not really focusing on anything. I honestly didn't know what to pick for my starter. I'd never been one to play favorites and knew any properly raised pokemon was equal to another, but I thought when I saw my choices one would pop out at me as the obvious decision for a companion. Well, to be honest one had but, considering she hadn't enjoyed the company of a single trainer in nearly a year, I knew that wasn't an option. I'd love to care for her but I needed to be realistic. The lights flickered again. On second thought, I needed to be realistic and safe. Wait... did I hear a zipper?

I looked down over my shoulder to see the object of my thoughts half-inside my bag rummaging through it. She apparently found what she wanted after having dug through to discover the couple oran I'd placed at the bottom. And then she noticed I was watching her and she froze looking at me. I laughed at the absurdity of it and smiled down at her.

"There's a couple more at the bottom if you'd like them. I don't mind if you have them as long as you could pass the rest around to the others."

She stared for a second before she gave a small nod, held on to the oran berry with her mouth, picked up my bag and walked over towards the center of the room.

That's when I heard Prof. Birch.

"I'll just need you to fill out these pages and she's yours."

I looked at him and blinked.

"...huh?"


	2. Chapter 2

I couldn't have heard what I thought I just did because it was too good to be true. Me having a ralts for a starter? You couldn't believe how lucky you'd have to be or the prestige you'd have to hold to make that come true for someone! The professor had to be teasing me. Then again he didn't seem like the type who would joke about something like an adoption, so this had to have been a test. Oh Mew above, how was I supposed to answer this?!

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Is there something wrong? From what I saw a couple minutes ago, I thought you'd be jumping out of your chair in joy."

"I just don't understand. There hasn't been a single qualified trainer for her in almost a year. I've been here for ten minutes. Why me?"

"Is it really so surprising? You have exemplary grades even for a straight-through senior. A couple of your teachers wished they could keep you even if it was only to use you as an example. Your battle theory teacher praised your versatility and marveled at the answers you'd put on your tests. You can't get much more versatile than a psychic-type. The fact Clara even approached you without you being tossed against a wall puts you as the best choice I've seen so far. If you'd look at her now you'll see what sealed the deal to me.

I did as he asked and looked towards where I'd seen her walk off to see the roomful of pokemon gathered around Clara to accept a berry or two she had divided out. I'm glad I thought to take that stop at the market now. It seemed like they all enjoyed the berries they had received. I still didn't get his point though.

"How does me turning your lab into a cafeteria allow me to train a ralts?"

He chuckled but answered me seriously. "She followed your order. You've practically already begun your job."

I went wide-eyed. "Whoa, I didn't order her. I was trying to make sure everyone had some."

"You can call it whatever you'd like, but the fact is you suggested something she could do and she's doing it. That's a trainer-pokemon relationship. Besides, she needs someone capable of truly bringing out her full potential and I believe you're the person who can make that happen. Are you trying to make a point to not have her as your starter?"

I rapidly shook my head and held my hands up. "No, no, no, no, no! Never in a million years would I turn something like this down. I thought you were testing me or something."

He grinned. "That's one of the most common misconceptions a new trainer will have when they start. It's not the people you'll come across that ultimately test you. It's the pokemon whose lives you impact that truly define your character. You passed this room's test the moment she walked off with your berries. You probably won't see it as such until some time into your travels, but it's the moments like this that make you the person you'll be in the future. It's the entire reason why every single child has to go through the trip carrying a pokemon. It's the modern rite of adulthood."

I had always thought I was slightly intelligent but this moment taught me what true wisdom sounded like. Professor Birch was a very wise man underneath his quirks.

He called over to her. "Clara, could you come over here for a minute? I have someone I'd like you to meet," he chuckled, "well, properly this time."

She had finished handing out the berries from the bag already and was working on finishing the last oran. She gave one of her slight nods and began to shuffle over towards us while finishing her berry, her path set towards the professor more than towards me. He picked her up and set her on his lap, the top half of her body visible above the table.

"Clara, you know how I've told you that one day someone would come here who would take care of you to travel far outside? This is Jason and I know he would take very good care of you. Why don't you go over and say hello?"

She swallowed her last mouthful and looked me over hesitantly before climbing up onto the table and walking over to me. I was once again looking into those deep-red eyes. I felt as though I needed to break the ice so I slowly held out my hand and hoped I wasn't trembling enough to be noted for it.

"Hi, Clara."

She looked at my hand for a couple moments before reaching out to it with both of her hands, then pressed it to her forehead, her silky hair brushing against my knuckles. Oh Mew, another test. She's going to feel how nervous I am. I'm blowing my chance. Why did I have to find out now that I did play favorites? I... I feel tapping. She was looking up at me and gently tapping my hand, as if to calm me down. Taking the opportunity presented to me, I took a deep breath and calmed my racing heart before addressing her.

"Thank you. I needed that." She gave me a nod and spoke for the first time.

"Ralts."

The professor smiled. "So what do you think? Would you like to go with him?"

She looked up at him for a couple seconds before motioning at the tabletop.

"You'll always have a home here and if things don't work out you'll be welcome to come back." And that's when I paled before the veiled look of death he was giving me. It was like a father in regards to his daughter. "Isn't that right, Jason?" I held up my hands and waved them.

"O-of course, what she says goes. Heheh..." As soon as it came, it left, and the professor went back to being bubbly.

"Great! Then what do you say Clara? Ready to see the world?"

She looked back at me with her one hand touched up near her mouth for a moment and then back towards the professor. That road I was talking about that I'd get to when I got there? Well, this was the intersection and I was praying I made it through safely. Please say yes, please say yes...

She looked up at the professor and gave a tiny nod.

Yes! She likes me a little!

"Jason, I doubt it's possible, but do try not to suffocate her with joy on your first day," he laughed, "it wouldn't be a good mark on your record."

I rubbed the back of my head sheepishly. "Sorry, got excited."

"No worries, everyone should be excited to travel. I'll just need you to fill those two pages out with your general information and then we can head to the second floor for your pokedex and supplies. I'll go grab her ball in the back."

He handed me a pen from his front lab coat pocket then walked back to the office. I clicked the top and went to work. They were pretty easy sections to fill out. The usual things, such as personal information like my name, mailing address, and then things like emergency contacts and personal aspirations. I loved that I could write down 'Ralts' for my choice of starter. All the while Clara watched me scribble down my answers from her spot on the table. At least one of us was getting some amusement out of this. I started the second page.

"Be glad that you don't have to do this. It's evil."

She tilted her head to the side, looking at me with her hand over her mouth.

"Most of the things for order with humans involve paper and wrist cramps." I rubbed my wrist just thinking about the finals I had last week. The professor decided this was the time to show up laughing.

"You wouldn't last a day in my shoes then. I swear there's a forest with my name inked all over it somewhere."

I could only grin and shake my head as I put down the pen upon completion. "I can't even argue those points." I handed him the completed forms and pen and stood up with with a stretch.

He gave them a quick look-over and nodded to himself. "Alright, just one more step and you'll be free to go unless you have any questions you'd like to ask me."

I shook my head. "The only part I was worried about is taken care of. I think I'm ready." I turned to Clara and was at a loss as to how to approach this. "Um.. do you mind if I carry you?"

She looked up at me for a moment then pointed at my shoulder and held out her arms. I gently lifted her up, taking in the unique feeling of her dress, and sat her on my left shoulder. This wouldn't be hard to get used to, she barely weighed me down. She looked comfortable too. I thought I saw the faintest hint of a smile on the professor as he turned to open the first set of doors, calling to everyone behind him.

"Stay good, you all. You'll have your dinner shortly if you haven't already spoiled your appetite with dessert." He gave me an amused glance.

"I expected to be leaving with some of the berries, honest."

"Ha, no harm done. They might even be more cooperative for some time."

The first doors closed behind us and he opened the second set, the both of us entering the hallway and taking a right down towards the elevator. My passenger enjoying the sights out of the windows on our left side. The short walk later and we were entering the elevator and heading to the second floor. Clara clung to me once we started down though I couldn't tell if it was because she was afraid or the sudden feeling of vertigo got to her. It didn't last long though and the elevator doors opened to the second floor.

Unlike the other two floors, this one seemed more medically attuned as there was another lobby style entrance with a receptionist's counter and frosted glass doors that led to what I imagined were the two hallways for the perimeter. The professor walked up to the counter and handed the papers to the assistant.

"I have a senior needing the starting supplies and his pokedex. I think you'll be surprised, we have a special case today."

The long, brown-haired woman raised an eyebrow as she looked over at me then gave a wide smile. "Do my eyes deceive me or is that Miss Clara? I'm surprised, Boss. I thought we were fated to have a gardevoir living with us with the new trainers we've been seeing. I'm glad to see one made the cut. Come on up here, hon, and I'll get you ready to go. She's been cooped up here for too long as it is."

I walked up to the counter and it looked like the professor was ready to give me some parting words.

"Your pokedex will have my contact information as well as the number to the trainer registered to her parents. They do like to visit her from time to time so don't be surprised if you get a call or they pop in on you. Her mother is quite a skilled teleporter." He took her pokeball out of his pocket and clasped it into my hands. "She's yours now. Do try to give me an update from time to time. I'm curious to see where you two end up."

I returned his smile as I placed the ball into my pocket and nodded. "I will."

"I guess this is it then. Leslie here will get you outfitted and then you can head out. It's been a pleasure meeting and the best of luck to you, Mr. Alejandro." He held out his hand.

I shook it. "Thanks for this opportunity, Professor."

He smiled and gave a small wave as he headed back into the elevator. "Keep him in line, Clara. Remember, he said what you say goes." He gave her a wink as the doors closed. I had a bad feeling those words would be used against me at some point.

I heard a laugh behind me. "That's the worst privilege a man can offer a woman, hon."

I turned back around to the counter and sighed. "I'm seeing that now but I was receiving a death glare at the time. Survival was on my mind."

"I can imagine that. The closest she was with a person was with the boss. He saw something special in you to let her go."

"Heh, I hope I can live up to whatever it is. I'm honored to have been given the chance."

She smiled at me. "If the professor has placed his faith in you, there isn't a doubt in my mind you'll do fine." She finished punching my information into the computer and stood up to head into the back. When the door swung open it looked like a large storage room. "Just a moment and I'll be back with everything for you."

I nodded as she headed back and turned to look at my passenger. She was simply looking around the office and taking in the sights. Her eyes were particularly fixated on a poster of the berries that grew in the region. She looked at me and pointed over towards it. I chuckled and smiled.

"Didn't have your fill? We'll drop by the market on our way out of town and you can show me which you'd like, okay? They have a really good variety."

She nodded and smiled. "Ral!"

The assistant came back from storage holding a stuffed backpack. The thing was huge, it almost looked like a hiker's pack. I think she amused herself by getting me a white and green one to match my little partner.

"There, now you two are a perfect pair!" She handed me the pack over the counter. "Everything you need to start out is in there. There's a list on the top with the stock of inventory. There's even something special in there for the little lady." She winked at Clara and picked up the pokedex on the counter, which was also white with smooth green accents, and undid the link from the computer to hand it to me. "The pokedex will function as your identification as well as offer you the basic information you will need during your journey."

"You enjoyed giving me these colors, didn't you?" I slipped the pokedex into my other pocket.

She grinned. "Can't say I didn't but they were held specifically for whomever was to leave with Miss Clara. It makes you look like a true duo, hon."

"Heh, I suppose you're right. Thanks for all of this, Leslie." I slung the backpack over my shoulder and suppressed a wince. Did they stuff a whole tent in here?

"It's my job, hon. Good luck, you two. I'll be rooting for ya!"

I shook my head and smiled as I headed towards the elevator. I hadn't left the lab and I already had my first fan. I waved goodbye as I pressed the button for the ground floor and the doors closed. Clara once again steadied herself by holding around my neck as we traveled downward. With our last ping, we headed out into the hallway and walked down it into the front lobby. I gave a small wave and laughed at the sudden look of shock on the assistant's face. I guess he didn't expect anyone to ever leave with her either.

With a slight whoosh, the automatic doors opened for us and allowed the sun to bask down upon us wholeheartedly. And it was with that next step our journey had officially begun.


	3. Chapter 3

When you're younger you have this feeling about birthdays like you'll suddenly be more grown up once yours comes. When I was younger I had that same feeling about becoming a trainer. Just like maturity had come to prove the first false, the only thing I could place as feeling different was the ralts on my shoulder and the backpack strapped to me. I had new responsibilities on my shoulders, quite literally even, but I was still the same person with the same quirks. I sighed a breath of relief realizing I survived orientation. And then I realized I had let it go too soon because the preteen from before was running up to me from where he had been standing near the bike rack. The only thing I could think was 'disaster incoming'.

"How did you manage to get her?! The professor said no one could have her!"

As I came to understand his yelling was in surprise instead of anger, Clara was trying to hide in my hair from the random stranger suddenly too close for comfort and too loud for safety. The last thing I needed was for her to feel the need to teleport off. I held a finger up to my lips.

"Shh! I just got her outside, alright? She's still adjusting to being with me."

At least he looked a little embarrassed and quieted down. "How'd you get her?"

I stroked the back of Clara's hair to try to help her calm down as I explained. "It wasn't that no one could have her. He said that no one was 'qualified' to have her. Somehow I managed to meet the requirements for starting off with her. All I can say is that I did well in school."

"Ugh, really? No thanks."

Clara seemed to have calmed down some as now she was warily looking at the child. Speaking of which...

"You know, I never did get your name."

"Oh, that's right. I'm Simon Langford from here in Littleroot." He held out his hand.

I shook it and replied. "Jason Alejandro of Rustboro and this is Clara. Would you like to say hello?"

The little lady on my shoulder gave a tiny wave. "Ral."

He gave her a smile. "Hi Clara! Man, you're so lucky, except for the waiting part."

I slightly shrugged my right shoulder as to not disturb my passenger but still respond. "If I wouldn't have taken the route I did I doubt I'd have been able to have her. Right now all I can say is I think it was worth it." I gave her a smile and tickled her. "Isn't that right, missy?" She giggled and flailed slightly until I stopped, to which she poked me on the nose. "Okay, I deserved that."

Simon smiled at our little display. "Oh, I have an idea! Why don't you come over to my place for dinner? My parents would never believe I met someone with a ralts, especially one as their starter."

I rubbed my chin. "Well, I had hoped to make it to at least Petalburg by sunset, but I suppose I could settle with spending the night in Oldale. What do you think, Clara? Would you mind another little meet and greet?"

She tapped her hand over her mouth to think then tapped her stomach. I chuckled.

"Yes, we'll still be going to the market for you. I never forget a promise."

She smiled and nodded. "Ralts!"

"Alright Simon, it's all right with the missus. Are you sure your parents won't mind?"

"I think my mom would lecture me about offering hospitality to people if I didn't ask. Please come, I don't want to have to stay here even longer!" He held his hands together pleading.

"I'll just have to grab my bike and we can go. You don't have to beg."

"Thank you!"

"It's not a problem. It's hard to turn down a free meal."

I walked over and walked my bike down the path to be fair to Simon. We walked in relative silence for a couple blocks. It was a welcome reprieve to be honest. It gave me a bit of time to absorb that, yes, I had finally started my journey. Of all the starters I could've had though, I never would've expected a ralts. I was going to have to find a way to modify the training regimen I wanted to put into practice. The only one in the ralts line who could handle heavy physical labor was a gallade and only males could become one. Looks like I'd have to put my mind to use in more than one way.

Teleport accuracy was going to be one of the essentials. It was best to get that down while she was young. I was going to need to visit a library for that one though. The science behind it was only slightly touched upon in one of my classes because it was difficult to understand. Also, from what I was hearing off of the professor, Clara also had a lot of push with her psychic powers. Control would have to be first and foremost. Maybe she had already received some training from her mother?

I startled as I was tapped on my nose by my little passenger. I looked over to see her with her head tilted and looking at me with curiosity. I smiled and ruffled her hair.

"Just thinking again. No worries."

She straightened out her hair with a smile then shook her head before pointing in front of me. It was a sign with a picture of pecha and cheri berries sitting in front of the market I had shopped at earlier.

"Ah, we're already here. Simon, I'll be just a couple minutes. I have a promise to keep."

I think he half-caught what I had said to him as he gave me a small wave and headed over to another boy walking across the street. I exhaled and shook my head as I pulled the door open with the chimecho bell once again marking my entrance. The market was much busier than before, like there was a community dinner rush. The girl from before was still behind the counter swiftly moving her customers through the line. A small gasp broke my spaced-out concentration as I turned my head to see Clara with her mouth slightly agape as she took in the sights. This little scene of innocence brought a smile to my face.

"Why don't you point out where you'd like to go? Pick out anything you want."

I saw her face light up before she lightly bounced on my shoulder and repeatedly pointed towards the blue berries.

"Right away, Miss Clara."

She stopped her bouncing and giggled as I walked over for her. I watched as her eyes scanned over the selection and felt her tense as she looked upon the basket of oran berries. As expected the tiny hand pointed in their direction. I grabbed one of the small produce bags and a twist-tie and popped six of the blue berries into the bag.

"That's a half-dozen of delicious for the missus and," I picked up one of the very few round, yellow berries, "a rare treat for the both of us."

Suddenly my head was being hugged. "Ralts!"

I chuckle and gave a one-handed hug back. "You're welcome. Anything else you'd like?"

She tapped her hand over her mouth and then pointed over towards another basket.

"You want a couple nanab?"

The response given was a shrug.

"Ah right, I forgot, us humans and our silly language."

The response given was a tongue sticking out at me. I responded by sticking out my tongue back at her. I grabbed another bag and tie and placed a pair of nanab inside then tied them off.

"Let's go surprise someone, shall we?"

We headed back towards the register and I was grateful the line was all but gone. I was in line just as the last customer was leaving.

"Have a nice evening, sir!" She turned to look towards me and her eyes lit up. "Aww, and who's this little cutie?"

I smirked. "I'm Jason. I was in here earlier."

She folded her hands onto her hips. "You know who I meant."

"I know, I know. This here little lady is my first partner, Clara."

"Hi Clara, I'm Amelia!"

Clara waved at her. "Ral."

Amelia smiled at the both of us. "I love the matching backpack. You must have made quite an impression to get paired up with her."

"Heh, you sell good fruit and Professor Birch saw something in me that he didn't see in a year's worth of beginners."

"He's always been a good judge of character. I can see which berry went over well." She began to ring up the two bags I placed on the counter.

"Only the best for my princess."

Amelia and Clara both smiled at that. Amelia pointed towards Clara's head. "All she needs is a tiara and you'd be called her chauffeur."

I laughed at the thought. "It would probably be too much to ask for a tip, right?"

She laughed back. "I suppose that depends. Where are you and her majesty planning to go?"

I gestured towards the front of the store. "You see the younger, blond haired kid outside? He was in the lab's lobby for paperwork and was amazed that I was just starting off my journey. He stuck around outside to see who my starter was and about had a heart attack. So I've been invited to dinner so he can show me off to his parents."

"Well, if you get her there in a timely fashion, she might allow you to join her for dinner."

Clara folded her arms and nodded. "Ral, Ralts."

I slightly bowed. "Of course your majesty."

We shared a laugh. A customer walked in line behind me. I took my bags from her.

"Looks like I should let you get back to your work."

She held up a finger. "Just a sec." She grabbed my receipt and a pen. After a few seconds of scribbling she handed me the slip of paper.

"I'd love to hear updates about you two so keep in touch, kay?" She smiled.

I blinked but smiled back and turned to leave. "Will do. You have a good evening, Amelia."

One door and bell chime later and I was back to my bike and an impatient looking Simon.

"You said it would only take a couple minutes."

I scratched at the back of my head. "Sorry, you weren't the only one impressed with the princess here."

It was then that he pointed at the receipt still in my hand with the bags. "What's with the writing?"

"Oh, that's right." I flipped the receipt over to find a contact number, just as offered.

"I thought you were getting berries, not a girlfriend."

"I suppose I saved time and did both."

"You didn't save any time. Come on! We have to go!"

I had a thought and grinned at him. "I have an idea to make up the time."

He looked at me confused. "What's that?"

"Hop on the front of my bike and point which way to go."

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"It can be but I've had plenty of practice over the years. Hop on."

He thought about it for just a second before relenting. I had him balance on the small pegs on my rims and lean back to use the frame as a support.

"Which way to your place?"

"Two blocks further down Main Street then a left onto Sixth and it'll be on the fourth block down on the right."

"Two down, a left, four down on the right. Got it."

I placed the berry bags and receipt in the trunk and hopped on to kick back the kickstand. "Clara, if you could hug my neck and I need both of you to hang on. I'll make this quick."

I took off slowly to make sure everyone was balanced then picked up speed. My parents told me they chose Hoenn to settle down in for the climate and hospitality. I've felt the first all of my life and I was hoping this would be another example of the second. I had invited a friend over for dinner without telling my mom once. Never again had I forgotten to call ahead. The last thing I wanted to do was hold up the Langfords' dinner.

Clara strangled me for the first block of the ride. It doesn't sound that bad when I put it like that but a block in Littleroot seemed to be about the size of two blocks in Rustboro. People had lawns with their homes here. Once she got used to it though she started to enjoy it. The wind against our faces was blowing the hair out from in front of her eyes and allowed me to see the twinkle sparkling within them.

I will admit, the left turn was a little difficult to make. I had practice under my belt but it had been a couple years since I had cycled regularly, let alone with a passenger. Turning with two additions was new. The rest of the trip remained quiet up until we were approaching Simon's house.

He pointed ahead. "The green one there."

I nodded and slowly turned up the driveway spotting a middle-aged man who I assumed to be his father sitting on the front porch. I parked my bike and let Simon off next to their car. Most people outside the major cities had vehicles but only used them for long-distance travel. We phased out gasoline years ago so there were no ecological concerns but most people wanted to be closer to nature.

Noticing Simon heading to the front, I looked towards Clara and snorted in amusement. I opened up my trunk and grabbed the berry bags. "You might want to fix your hair."

Seemingly distracted by watching me it took a second for what I said to register with her. I watched her look up and frown. Her hand patted at and tried to straighten out her tangled locks with her tongue sticking out in concentration. I felt the shockwave before I saw it. Psychic power flowed off of her as her hair stood out on end before both fell back to normal.

"Ralts!" she cheered at her now pristine hair.

I patted my head and realized that she had accidentally given me her problem.

"I don't suppose you could teach me that trick, right?"

She looked over at me embarrassed then went to work patting down my hair, her face once again scrunched in concentration.


	4. Chapter 4

With my now ragged hair and humored ralts, I walked around to the front of the house. Simon seemed to be in the depths of a monologue with each event being accompanied by gesticulation. His father listened with mirth and his chin resting on his hands. As I approached, his dad took notice and both looked my way. Simon bounded over and pointed at me and Clara.

"See? I told you he had a ralts!"

His father responded with a deep yet smooth baritone. "That you did." A grin-like smile adorned his face as he held out a hand. "You don't see many ralts-line trainers these days. Nice to meet you, young man."

I felt Clara's head tilt against mine and looked over to see her look at Mr. Langford inquisitively with her hand tapped over her mouth. After a second, she gave a small wave and a smile. I turned back to shake his hand to see his mood had slightly deflated.

"I'm Jason."

"Michael. I'm supposed to intimidate Simon's friends at least once."

Simon shook his head and sighed in good humor. "You're too emotional, dad."

I had a chuckle at that. "It must run in the family."

They replied in chorus. "Hey!"

She nodded. "Ralts."

Mr. Langford sighed. "Well, come on in. Anna will love to meet you."

We walked up the steps to the porch and I noticed Simon had a fairly nice looking home. Like most of the houses I'd seen in Littleroot it matched nicely to nature, a light and mellow green siding with flowerpots on the windowsills. A rather quaint place accented with an antique wooden door. We entered to the living room and he motioned to their couch.

"Kick off your shoes and get comfortable. I'll let her know we have a guest. She's probably still working on dinner."

He and Simon headed back to the kitchen. I took off my shoes and set down my backpack near the door. Rayquaza above that thing was heavy!

I carried Clara over to the couch where I set her down and sat beside her. I untied one of the berry bags and handed Clara one of the orans. She beamed up at me, "Ralts!" and started to munch away.

The house was nicely decorated. Floral arrangements were laid in vases upon the tables in the living room. The furniture even had a leaf pattern to it. Family photos adorned the far wall with one pictured of each member stood upon the television stand showcasing the first day of their journeys. Huh, Simon started with a mudkip. Not what I would've expected him to choose.

"Simon, you have a phone for a reason! I could've tidied up!" That would be his mother. I know that tone of voice from personal experience. "And where are you going, Michael?"

"Why am I in trouble? I just met him two minutes ago."

"You've done this before yourself and because he's your son, too!"

A sandy blonde haired woman peeked out from the doorway.

"It'll be just another minute." Her cheerful voice a sharp contrast from what I'd just heard. I jumped up at attention upon seeing her. I answered sheepishly.

"I hope we're not intruding."

"We?" When she noticed Clara she brightened up even more. "Oh, aren't you just adorable! Both of you come on in and have a seat. I'll make a plate for you both."

I nodded and felt a tap against my leg. I looked down to see Clara peering up at me then lifting her arms up. I gave a half-smile.

"You're going to end up spoiled at this rate, you know?" I laughed. "Ah well, upsie-daisy!"

I lifted her up into a fit of giggles and cradled her in an arm, using my other hand to grab the berry bags then walked us into the kitchen.

The room was decorated as well as the living room with all sorts of assorted trinkets on shelves across the walls. What caught my eye was an exquisite painting of a solrock and lunatone basking in the glow of the sun and the moon. I heard Mrs. Langford flick the burners off on the stove.

"Michael, could you get the booster seat out of the closet for our guest, please?"

"Certainly, dear."

He walked out towards the living room and I swear I saw him pout on the way out. It probably wasn't the first time Simon had got him into trouble. Simon was laying out the silverware on the table, probably trying to regain some favor. Mrs. Langford was gathering plates and dishes. I felt something heavy brush against my legs and I looked down to see a strange blue and black cat. At least I could tell it wasn't from this region. Mrs. Langford took notice of my predicament.

"Fuzzy, be a good boy and let the boy get to the table. You can love on him after we eat." She waved him off. "Shoo."

He gave me one last rub then padded off through the door to the backyard she was holding open. Mr. Langford returned from the front room with a child seat for Clara and got it situated. Clara had remained quiet through all of this, simply watching on curiously. I walked over and sat her upon the chair and placed the bags of berries upon the table. I took the chair next to her.

"Ready to eat?"

She looked at me with a smile. "Ral!"

I pulled out one of the nanabs and placed it above the small plate Mrs. Langford had begun to dish out to her.

"I'm not sure what exactly you eat so have whatever tastes good and don't worry about the rest."

Beef and broccoli over rice was a meal I could enjoy. It was usually the older generations that couldn't appreciate that advancement in science. I considered artificially produced meat products to be the second greatest achievement behind the matter to energy data transfer infrastructure. Non-berry agriculture was uncommon but not unheard of. Most of it in Hoenn was imports due to the land and weather required to grow the crops. Broccoli and rice though.. good stuff.

Simon and Mr. Langford took a seat at the table as Mrs. Langford served us all a plate, dividing it all between us before setting the pan back on the stove, placing a glass of milk next to each of our plates, and seating herself. Everyone held out the hands and she nodded at me. I took Simon's parents' hands in mine and gave grace.

"Our praise unto land, sea, and sky. The three upon which our hearts do rest. We humble ourselves beneath their glory. May their taken bounty into us be blessed."

Without further words we nodded our heads and began to eat. I wouldn't admit it out loud but Mrs. Langford could give my mom a run for her money with her cooking. With the way Clara was digging in, I think she would come to agree with that. The food kept us in relative silence for a minute. I think we were enjoying ourselves too much to talk. Mrs. Langford was the first to break the silence.

"So Jason, how long have you been on your journey? A ralts couldn't have been easy to find."

I swallowed my mouthful of food. "To be honest, not even an hour. I came here directly from the lab."

His parents both seemed surprised at that. Simon took a bite and added in.

"I met him when I was there for the forms. He stayed in school."

Mrs. Langford admonished, "Simon, don't talk with your mouth full."

Simon lowered his head. "Sorry, mom."

Mr. Langford looked over to me. "I take it she's your partner?"

"Yes, sir, she is." Clara was paying us no mind as she peeled back her nanab and took a bite. She seemed to like it. Mrs. Langford waved her hand.

"Oh please, just Anna and Michael. You're a welcome guest here."

"Heh, sorry, had manners drilled into me when I was younger."

"It's nothing to be ashamed of. We've been trying to teach Simon for years."

This caused Simon jump in, not realizing his mouth was full. "Hey!"

A stern glare from his mother reminded him and he swallowed for two reasons. Michael just shook his head and looked over to me.

"So what are your plans for the road? Going to follow in your parents' footsteps?"

I shrugged. "To be honest I really don't have any plans. Both of my parents grew up in Sevii so they were never part of a league. For now I want to focus on being a trainer over being a specific battler."

He smiled at that. "Very admirable. Fewer people these days put the desires of their partners over their own. It's something we're glad Simon decided to follow even though he's a part of the Evergrande League."

Simon recited something he'd seemed to have heard one too many times. "Selfishness is a loss before you've started."

Michael nodded. "And don't you forget it. There's no point in achieving hollow victories. A partnership goes both ways."

I nodded at that. "Very true. We help our partners reach their potential and they help us discover our own. I can already tell Clara here is going to be a handful."

She rolled her eyes at me and Michael grinned. "Would you have it any other way?"

I looked upon her with a smile as she finished her nanab. "No, I don't think I would."

We had all finished our plates and Anna had began to take them to the sink. "Where do you live by the way?"

I thanked her as she took my plate. "Rustboro. I'm going to ride to Oldale tonight and get there early tomorrow."

She gasped at that. "At this hour? I insist you spend the night here. Who knows what could happen out there?"

"Heh, I really don't want to be a bother."

"Nonsense! You can use the guest room and set out rested in the morning. I won't take no for an answer."

I felt a poke in my side and saw Clara wanting to be picked up again. I stood up and set her on my shoulder.

"What do you think? Mind spending the night here?"

She looked at me and fell into a quiet yawn, finishing with a small nod. I looked back over to my host.

"We'd appreciate being able to stay. Now I'm afraid she'd fall asleep on my shoulder."

I could tell she was simply enamored with Clara. "Aww, looks like someone needs to go to bed."

Clara shook her head and pointed towards the back door.

I raised an eyebrow. "You want to go outside?" She nodded at me.

Anna chimed in with an idea. "How about Simon shows you his team out back."

Simon looked over from the conversation he had been having with his father. "I heard my name."

"Why don't you head out back and show Jason who all's helped you win two badges? Maybe Clara could make a new friend."

Playing to his pride, good call Mrs. Langford. Simon's eyes lit up and he made for the back door.

"Ok! Come see Radar and Chub, Jason!" And with that he took off out of the door.

I sighed. "Speaking of being a handful.."

Michael nodded. "Always has been." He looked over to me. "You mind having a talk later?"

There's something about those words that always managed to provoke dread. He must've seen the apprehension on my face.

"Nothing bad, I promise." He waved me off. "Go have fun."

I made for the door and could see Anna giving her husband a glance with a raised eyebrow.

While I saw a glimpse from the kitchen, being outside and a part of it made me marvel at the landscaping. The whole scene looked like a picture out of one of those gardening magazines. We couldn't even think of having a pool in our yard, let alone the small waterfall pond I was seeing. A small dorsal fin trailed around a couple of the lily pads that dotted the surface. Fuzzy chose to bask in the remnant shade of a large tree with his head on his paws. Simon was next to a makuhita and seeming to be encouraging it as it punched a standing log. I had to wonder if the poor thing minded being called 'Chub'.

I walked over to the pair as I observed his strikes. The blows were solid if the loud cracking of the wood was any indication but I noticed most of the damage was light and widespread. I stood alongside Simon until Chub finished his set. He turned to us and I knelt down to his level.

"Do you mind if I make a couple comments, Simon?"

He shook his head. "No, go ahead."

I looked back to Chub. "Have you had language courses?"

He nodded to me as Simon chimed in, "We spent a month in Dewford going light on training to take the classes. Radar helped too."

I smiled as I nodded back. "Hello. I'm Jason and the little lady with me is Clara."

She gave a small wave which he returned. "Ral."

"Maku."

"I have some input if you wouldn't mind hearing it."

He gave me another nod. I dove into what my school friends had called 'lecture mode'.

"The physical aspect looks good. You'll find out how to adjust the strike with experience. The problem seems to be in the release of energy. From the way I see the impact marks, the energy is even throughout your arm. Store energy within your upper arm to accompany the physical strike. When you strike, send the stored amount down your arm and spread it just past your wrist. The volatility is what causes the true damage while leaving the spread before the end of the blow keeps it nonlethal. The only thing that's left after that is increasing the force, making sure you don't injure yourself in the act, and compressing the release into a fine line for precision."

Simon looked at me as if I had sprouted wings and started flying.

"I took Advanced Aural Theory as an elective both junior and senior year."

"Huh?"

"The manifestation of spiritual energy that accompanies the physical aspects in an attack."

There still was no dawn of understanding on his face.

I sighed. "I'll put it like this. How can an electric type power a generator yet only knock out their opposition? Because they can choose whether the energy they release is physical or spiritual. So an electric attack could disrupt your energy, shock your body, or both."

Simon's face scrunched up. "What's the difference?"

"The method by which you're knocked out. A physical shock is many, many times more likely to cause you not to wake back up."

He blanched and I rested a hand on his shoulder.

"No worries. It's why they have new trainers start with young and partially-trained pokemon. Your starter will show the basic level of control required for battles. Much of the control is instinctual early on but the training quickly becomes required as your team becomes more powerful. That's one of our jobs," I looked back over to Chub, "And from what I see, you know what you're doing without knowing all of my fancy terms."

"Heh, thanks Jason."

I received a nudge in my side to see Fuzzy had padded over to us. From bending over like this, he towered over me now. Alternating blue and yellow bands adorned the back of his front legs surrounded by the black fur upon much of the rest of his body. The only exceptions were his light blue hind legs, blue underbelly, and blue face and ears. His eyes were startling yellow surrounded by the same red as his nose and the tip of his tail reminded me of a twinkling star.

I reached up and scratched the top of his furry head and felt the lightest of tingles across my fingers. "Hey there, big guy. I can see why you're called Fuzzy."

Simon joined in and smiled at me. "He must really like you if you didn't feel any static."

"Oh, so he is an electric-type?"

"Yeah, you didn't know?"

"I've never seen one of his kind before and guessed on it once I touched him. I felt the nerves in my fingers react to the touch."

"Oh, yeah, he's a luxray. My mom got him when she was traveling in Sinnoh."

Fuzzy tilted his head at Clara and stared at her for a second. I was almost worried until he licked her face. "Ray!"

The formerly quiet ralts wiped her face off with a giggle before patting him on the head. He pushed his head into the petting with a slight purr, then bowed down and nudged his head back. I picked Clara up and placed her onto the big cat's shoulders.

"Now, I trust you two to play nice, right?" I received a chorus of 'Ral!' and 'Ray!' as I watched Fuzzy slowly gallop away with Clara laughing on his back. I watched on with a half-smile.

"You know Simon, I've waited nearly ten years for this day and not once did I picture this," I gestured towards the duo, "being a part of it."

"At least you didn't have to wrestle to catch her like Chub made me. Ugh.."

Chub patted him on the arm and gave what sounded like a chuckle. "Makuhita."

I raised an eyebrow at the both of them. "You two.. wrestled?"

I saw the trainer's twinkle in his eyes and got comfortable. And so spent the next hour or so with Simon regaling me with stories of parts of his journey so far. Clara had tired out from her second wind not too long after her yard adventure with Fuzzy. She had fallen asleep resting along his side after he came to lay by our side. Once Chub had finished with his evening drill he had asked to be recalled along with Radar who had trotted over from the pond a little before dark. It was the sunset that alerted me to my own fatigue. I covered a yawn.

"Mm, looks like time to head in. I need to get Clara to bed."

He nodded and I stood up off of the grass and bent down near the sleeping duo to pick up Clara. As I cradled her in my arms she peeked up at me. I gently spoke to her.

"Heading inside and to bed. Go back to sleep."

She seemed more than happy to comply as she rested her head against me. Simon nudged Fuzzy awake and we headed inside with Simon getting the door as my hands were full. His parents were seated on the couch watching one of the prime-time sitcoms I knew my parents watched as well. Anna looked over at me and smiled at my bundle.

"The second room on the right, down the hallway."

I nodded. "Thanks."

Simon had already wandered down the hall ahead of me and dipped into one of the doorways. I quietly walked down the hall to the room. The barest of light from the setting sun filtered through the shades and allowed me to see the outline of the bed. I set the decorative pillows to the side and pulled back the sheets to get Clara under them and comfortable. Content with her snuggling up to the pillow, I closed the door behind me, noticed Simon's name-labeled door closed with the lights on, and reentered the living room. I took a seat in the nearby armchair watching the show come to a close with Simon's parents. Anna turned the television off as the credits began to roll and they shared a quick look before they turned to me. Michael was the first to talk.

"We have a proposition for you."

That wasn't what I had been expecting to hear. "Alright. What's up?"

"We'd like to hire you as Simon's mentor."

Make that twice in a row. I scratched my head. "May I ask why you'd want me to?"

Anna answered. "I had wanted one for Simon from the start but with it being the end of the school year most are already partnered or focusing on themselves. When I called the lab over Simon's paperwork, it seems there was a buzz regarding you."

Michael added. "When you said you had just started today I had a guess that the ralts on your shoulder was the lab mascot. We're old trainers and while the rules may have changed around a little, we know the significance of a ralts choosing a trainer. You have a gold star on your record. I might have also heard a bit of what you said out there, possibly. Maybe."

He was about to continue when Simon came out of his room dressed for bed and looked at the three of us sitting there in silence.

"What's going on?"

Anna answered him. "Oh, just some grown-up talk. We thought we'd get Jason used to it early so he might survive out there."

Simon grimaced. "Ew, no thank you." He gave both of his parents a hug and then looked over to me. "You're leaving tomorrow?"

Let it be known I cannot resist a sad face. I feel guilty every time I do. So when he looked down at me with those eyes with true regret for having to say goodbye I mentally sighed and made my decision.

"I really need to meet up with my parents before I decide on where and what I'm going to be doing, so yeah, but I think I might have a surprise for you in the morning."

He perked up a little at the sound of a surprise and grinned. "Cool, I'll see you in the morning then!"

We watched him head off to bed and they turned back to me. I audibly let out my sigh this time.

"Well, it's been a day of firsts so I'm willing to give it a try. I helped lead study groups anyway. As long as he can manage his money I'll travel along with him. Was there anything in particular you wanted me to try to help him with?"

They chorused. "Control." Anna added on. "Of himself. He can get frustrated or upset when his game plan doesn't follow the way he wants. If you could get him to stay calm, even just a little bit more, I'd never stop thanking you. He took after Mister Emotional over here."

Michael placed the back of his hand to his forehead. "My own wife turning against me. Where did I go wrong?" He fake sniffled.

She smirked at him. "Usually about the same time you think you need to open your mouth. Anyway, we'll take care of his finances and check in to make sure he's behaving and to take care of anything. How much would you like for doing this?"

I waved my hands in front of me. "Oh no, I wouldn't ask anything for it. If you really mus,t send whatever you're comfortable with and I'll make sure to take care of the both of us. My account is secure for the coming year at the least."

"Alright, alright, we won't fight you over it. Thank you for this. Not many would go out of their way to help people they just met."

"I didn't really have a direction I wanted to go yet so it's not a problem. Would you mind working out any other details in the morning with him awake? I'm starting to pass out sitting up."

They both smiled and Michael nodded towards me. "Of course," he began to have a bit of an evil smirk, "We'll be sure to wish you the best in traveling with him."

I wanly smiled back and stood up. "Riiiight. I'll see you both in the morning."

I walked back into the guest room. What had I gotten myself into? Oh, my parents were not going to let me live this down. They had been pushing me throughout high school to go into the mentor program but I insisted on simply being there to help others out with their studies. It was a lot more free-form that way. What's done is done though. I went through my nightly routine in the guest bathroom, removed the pokedex and her pokeball from my pockets and set them on the end table, and slipped under the covers next to her slowly so I didn't wake her.

Yeah, this was a memorable first day, but couldn't anything be simple?

I didn't need to ask my new psychic for that answer.


	5. Chapter 5

Being an only child, I was unused to sharing a bed and it took some time to ease my apprehension enough to fall asleep. It was a shuffling beside me which roused me after what my internal clock was telling me as several hours. Blinking my still weary eyes I rolled over and spotted Clara sitting on the edge of the bed. Without giving it much thought I had left the blinds open, now causing moonlight to cast a pale glow throughout the room. She merely sat looking out the window with a look I couldn't identify upon her face.

I slipped out from under the blanket and cast my legs over the side of the bed to sit beside her. She gave me a slight look before returning to her passive viewing of their backyard. We both sat in silence for a few minutes simply basking in the dim light. Piecing together the conversation I wanted to start, I looked over to her.

"Would you like to sit on my lap?"

She peered up at me with her large, crimson eyes and gave a tiny nod. I helped scoot her onto the top of my legs and I laid my hands by her sides. I returned my own sight to the trees outside and began to quietly speak.

"I can only imagine what led you to your life at the lab and your past year. Watching people come and go, seeing roommates be chosen and led out to their journey. One whole year and not feeling a single person besides the lab workers you could connect with."

I couldn't say that last sentence without a sad smile. Was it truly so uncommon to put the pokemon under your care first? Quite possibly, if she came in after the previous year's graduations. Juniors and seniors were quite few and kids would be kids.

"The closest I can relate is watching my classmates slowly leave while I would stay for the next grade. I have a couple close friends but we'll be going different directions with what we want to do. I suppose for now it'll be us and Simon and his team. Oh, you were asleep for that. We're going to be traveling along with him at his parents' request and pay."

I heard her give a small hum to that and we lapsed back into silence for a number of seconds.

"Have you seen your parents recently, Clara?"

She slowly responded with a slight shake of her head.

"I'll give them a call tomorrow. If you're going to meet my parents tomorrow, I'd like to meet yours as soon as possible."

Taking a gamble I leaned down and placed my chin on her rear head horn. Guessing with the act, I focused my best at feeling reassurance and attempted to send it to her. It worked to some degree as I felt her relax from tension I hadn't known she had. I couldn't tell you how long we sat together in that position, and it was only broken upon hearing her shallowly breathing in sleep.

Carefully I lifted her off of me and tucked her back under the blanket, sliding over to do the same with myself. I fell asleep much easier than the first time.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Oh, come on, Jason! I've been waiting forever!" It was a higher pitched, bubbly voice.

"Simon, leave the poor guy alone and get in here," this time it was a female whisper-shouting, "he had to ride a bicycle for hours yesterday!"

I was more than willing to let that statement be as I heard footsteps travel away. It felt much too early to be waking up. The little someone else had other plans; however, as I felt a tapping on my cheek. Lying on my back, I blinked open my eyes and saw Clara's crimson gaze peering over me. She had her left hand over her mouth and her head tilted innocently.

"Clara, it's too early for a poke war." I looked over to the clock on the end-table as it shone back 7:30 A.M.. "See? Even the electronics agree with me. It's not even ten."

No sooner did I close my eyes and I received another pair of taps on my nose. Once again I opened my eyes and looked at her with a sad sigh.

"Really, Clara?"

My response was a slightly muffled, "Ral."

"Yes, ma'am.." I flipped the blankets off of me and tossed my legs over the side of the bed. After rubbing my eyes into proper focus, I returned the pokedex and pokeball to my pockets. She was now standing beside me on the bed seemingly content with watching me go through my motions.

"Well, I'll fix the bed and we can go be social. I suppose if we get going here soon we'll make it by early afternoon. Simon and my mom should be an interesting mix."

She tilted her head at my statement. "Oh, don't worry, she'll love you. She's always had a soft spot for anything I 'happened' to bring home. If I couldn't go out on my journey then I'd bring the journey to me. I can't tell you what manner of forest dwellers I'd manage to befriend outside of town and then bring home. Let me tell you, zigzagoons are amazing at dodging would-be catchers."

During all of this I had managed to scoop her up into one arm while the other worked at the crumpled sheets. After some wrestling with the fabric I managed to get it looking like its pre-used state. With both hands free I placed her up on my left shoulder and trudged my sleep-addled self out to their living room. Anna was seated upon the couch watching the morning news. I think she heard my footsteps as I came out because she turned around and gave me a smile.

"Good morning."

My passenger joined me in the greeting. "Good mornin'." "Ral!"

I took a seat in the same chair as last night and tuned out the sound of the reporter as I addressed Anna. "So, where's my alarm clock and his other parent this morning?"

She chuckled as she shook her head. "Sorry about him. He's never up at this time when we have him home. Michael's already out for his work. Simon's out back with his team. Now that you're more awake, did you still want to mentor him? You looked pretty tired last night so I wanted to make sure you've fully thought it through."

"Yeah, I'm sure. I'm not really awake yet but I'm sure. It's going to make my parents smug but he's an alright kid and I could use some direction. Did he have breakfast yet?"

"No, he's only been up about half an hour. I ate with Michael earlier and have to leave for work in Rustboro in about a half hour. I'd be willing to give you and Simon a ride there if you'd like."

I brightened up slightly at the sound of that. Saving a ride and having more time to get things together to set out? All for it. But..

"Your car can fit my bike?"

"We have a bike rack on the back of it; we take family trips from time to time. We could load yours and Simon's, it'd do him some good with the exercise. It might actually wear him out."

I smirked at that. "You mean miracles do exist?"

She smiled back. "One can only hope."

I clapped my hands and stood up while making sure Clara stayed seated upon me.. "Well, I'll take Simon to breakfast in Rustboro before I meet up with my mom. I suppose I should go break the news to him so he can be ready."

"It shouldn't be a problem getting him back on the road but do tell him to be quick. It wouldn't hurt to be a bit early."

Lucky me, I got to start my day by making a ball of energy move quicker. I gave her a nod, put on my shoes near the front door, and headed into the kitchen and out the backdoor. Simon was sitting near the waterfall part of the pond beside his two pokemon, all three seemingly relaxing in the crisp, morning air. They must've heard the door open because they all looked back towards us. No sooner did Simon recognize my presence before he was hopping up off of the ground and jogging over to me. The makuhita and mudkip followed behind him at a slower pace.

"Come on, Jason! What's the surprise? I couldn't even sleep that well. What is it?"

I pointed at him then raised my finger to represent the number one. "You can have it on one condition. You can leave today, no holds barred, if you agree to take me on as a mentor. Your mom's willing to drive us to Rustboro with our bikes when she leaves. What do you think?"

His eyes switched from showing shock to a blank realization. "She almost has to leave! I have to get ready," He looked down to his two companions, "I'll let you guys back out when we get to town, ok?"

They both nodded and he returned the both of them to their balls. As soon as they were clipped back onto his belt he took off in a run past me and darted into the house. I blinked a couple times before I looked over to Clara, seeing her head at a tilt, confused at the situation.

I shrugged. "I guess that's a yes?"

She shrugged back at me and I quietly laughed at her using such a gesture. "Alright then, let's go get ourselves ready."

I trudged my way back into the house and wiped my shoes on the mat. I could already hear the sound of rustling coming from down the hall and could only hope he wasn't destroying his room in the process. I did my routine in the bathroom before it was taken and headed back out into the living room to grab my pack and the kitchen to grab my berry bag.

I set Clara down for just a second (a second that she didn't appreciate) to throw the pack over my shoulders when the mother-son pair emerged from the hallway. Simon was practically bouncing in place with his medium-sized backpack causing a chorus of jostling noises. Anna placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Now Simon, what might you be forgetting?"

He looked confused. "But I have everything here in my pack."

"How did Jason travel here?"

"By..," he facepalmed as he realized, "By a bike! I'll be right back!"

I watched his retreating form exit out the back door with a blink then made to exit out the front door with Anna.

"We love him to pieces but we weren't joking when we were wishing you luck. We joke that he stole all of our energy because I don't know what I'd give to have half of that amount."

"Heh, I guess I can have him burn enough energy for the both of us."

She went towards the garage as I retrieved my forgotten bicycle. It was a good thing it didn't rain last night. She pulled the car out for the both of us and I rolled my bike over to it as Simon made his way from the backyard with his own towed beside him. When Anna reached the trunk she motioned for my bike.

"I can get that on here and take your pack. Take the passenger's seat and get Clara comfortable, it'll be just a minute."

"Oh, thanks Anna."

I shrugged off my pack and handed it to her then looked to my occupied left shoulder as I took the couple steps to reach the car door. "Let's see if we can keep you safe, princess."

Her response was to fold her arms and turn her nose up at me.

I had a short laugh at the sight. "Pardon me, my lady. Of course one such as you can defend yourself. However, one can never be too safe in a vehicle."

I popped the door open, held Clara in an arm and seated myself. My available hand reached over my shoulder to grab and snap the seat belt into place. I sat Clara upon my lap and closed the door feeling the car slightly rock from a bike being placed on it. It must've been the second one because the door behind me popped open and an enthusiastic Simon jumped in to the back seat.

"This is going to be sooooo awesome! Where are we going first?"

Anna followed shortly after into the driver's seat as I checked the lap belt around Clara then answered Simon. "We're going to have breakfast at a place I know and then I have to meet up with my mother and grab anything I'm going to need that isn't in the mountain of gear they gave me. I'm afraid if I open it up it'll explode out with stuff."

Simon took that literally. "That would be awesome!"

I shook my head in exasperation; of course he would. "I would agree with you for about a second then I'd hate it for having to pack it all back inside."

In this time Anna had started the car and had a station on the radio playing. The songs weren't something I'd be picking but it was tolerable. I couldn't bring myself to say such considering it was a free ride. Simon gave a groan but didn't say any further. It was probably a common thing between them.

Within a couple minutes we were heading past the Littleroot Town limits and onto Hoenn Route 101. Clara quickly freed herself from the belt prison holding her to stand on my lap and look out the window. I had to admit it was cute to watch her head go back and forth trying to see things at the speed we were going. Thankfully for my legs, the six-hour trip of yesterday was now an hour long, comfortably seated drive.

Having your sights change from trees to skyscrapers in a split-second really hit home the differences between my and Simon's hometowns. The sound of the tires against the road must've caused me to doze off because it seemed like I blinked and we were passing the outskirts of Rustboro. Within a minute we'd reach the end of Route 104. Route 104 led you from Petalburg to the commercial zone of Rustboro, the heart of the town.

Despite the time still being in the morning, quite a large number of people were traversing the sidewalks with recent purchases or friends beside them. Traffic was a pain, too, between the packed roads and waiting on pedestrians at the lights. I could feel Simon fidgeting in his seat behind me and could easily hear Anna singing along to the most recent popular song.

I took advantage of this free time by pulling out my pokedex and calling home. I knew this was going to be a 'fun' conversation. I hoped Clara could deflect some of the attention off of me when I got home. The phone rang twice before my mother answered her phone.

"Jason Alejandro, you know better than to worry your mother like that. Being an adult won't stop me from smacking some sense into your head. Where have you been?"

She spoke loud enough to make both Anna and Simon glance at me.

"Sorry, the bike ride took longer than I thought and then I was invited to dinner and spent the night. I'm going to get some breakfast here in Rustboro and then I'll be home. I have someone for you to meet."

I heard her sigh. "You're going to be the death of me, child. See you soon. Love you."

"Love you, too. I'll be there shortly."

I flipped the 'dex shut and returned it to my pocket. Simon leaned forward between the front seats.

"Wow, your mom is louder than mine!"

I saw Anna raise her eyebrows, her eyes still on the road. "Are you saying that I should be louder?"

Simon went pale. "No, that's ok, you're fine!"

I looked out my window as we reached another intersection. It took but a second to figure out where we were. The diner I planned on visiting was only a couple blocks away from here.

"If you could pull over anywhere around here we're close enough."

She took a second to think then nodded to the side of the road ahead of us. "Certainly, there's a spot right over there."

She drove us into a store's parking lot so we could take our bikes down and grab our packs. After detaching the seatbelt and climbing out of the car, I set Clara down onto the seat.

"I'll be back in just a second. Once I get my pack on we can go for another ride and get some food. Ok?"

She peered up at me and nodded. "Ral."

In the span of a minute we had the bikes released and our packs on our back. Clara was returned to her seat upon me as Simon was hugging his mom goodbye. Anna knelt down to look her son in the eyes.

"Now, the same rules as before still apply. Check in with us twice a week and behave for Jason. This was something he chose to do for you so I better be receiving good reports, alright?"

"Yes, mom."

She pulled him into a hug. "Then good luck, kiddo. Show them what you're made of."

He joined her in the hug then pumped his fist into the air. "You bet!"

She stood up and faced towards me. "Thanks for doing this."

I shook my head side-to-side. "No, thank you for dinner, for allowing me to spend the night, and for the drive here. I'm grateful for the hospitality."

"You're welcome. I hope your journey goes well, too.. Simon has our contact numbers and all of the other important numbers for the trip. You two take care of each other, now."

I hopped onto my bike as Simon waved goodbye to the retreating vehicle. I should get a basket for the front before leaving town. I feared one good bump would knock Clara right off of my shoulder and that's one of the last things I wanted. I gave Clara another once over to make sure she was secure to me then addressed Simon.

"Alright, a couple streets over has a nice little restaurant that I go to for breakfast on occasion. Follow behind me. It should only take a couple minutes."

"Ooh, ooh! Can I have an omelette? It's been forever since I've had one!"

At least I could share his enthusiasm with food. "Have whatever you want, I'm paying."

This was met with another cheer, one which signaled the start to our small ride there. The urban sprawl of Rustboro was something I was familiar with. Traffic was light around this area and made the crosswalks easy to manage. The only real problem using the sidewalks was the foot traffic in this area because we were in the commercial zone. Compared to Littleroot, Rustboro was a human safari zone. All this caused Clara to grip my neck tighter and boy, did she have a grip to her.

We made it to the diner and locked our bikes without any trouble. The place was a little hole-in-the-wall eatery but they made good food and were pokemon friendly. I preferred smaller places; it was a much more relaxing environment to eat in. We seated ourselves, with Clara near the window, in a booth looking across from each other. I didn't need to open the menu, I'd been here often enough that I could remember it off of the top of my head.

I passed Clara a couple oran berries for her to munch on while we were waiting. I sipped on my iced tea as I listened to Simon whisper the ingredients list several times before making his decision. Thankfully it wasn't too outlandish and not a minute later the waitress took our orders, including a pancake for Clara, and we sat staring at each other. I guessed this was a good enough time as any.

"So, what's the goal you're working towards on your journey and how do you think I could help you?"

"Me and my team are going all the way to the finals in the league and win it! And you're all smart and stuff with what you told Chub yesterday. I bet you know all sorts of cool stuff!"

I don't know why I was expecting a different answer. Well, I suppose it made it easier.

"Heh, I don't know if I'd call my schooling 'cool' but I suppose that's a matter of opinion. I'll start you off on the regimen I was going to follow and adjust it from there. Much of the early training will be physical conditioning to get us and our teams in shape for the harder aspects later on. Attacks need to be use-ready before being battle-ready. That'll probably take a bit of observation on our part to pick out flaws to fix. Once we've laid the foundation we'll enter into battle training and callsign practice."

Simon tilted his head back with a sigh. "Ugh, you lost me at exercising. Do we really have to?"

I chuckled. "Yes. Believe me, you'll thank me for it later. I've been keeping myself in shape because I knew I'd need it now."

He looked down defeatedly. "Fiiiiine.."

We lapsed back into silence, short of the munching beside me. I sat and listened to the music they had on and sifted out the ambient noise from the other customers. Two songs later and we were served our orders. I needed to take down a note; Clara has a sweet tooth. She finished before me and Simon were halfway done with our own.

I looked over at her. "I take it you liked your breakfast?"

I received a tongue sticking out at me for my rhetorical question.

"Oh, I see how it is. Sassy in the mornings, are we?"

She gave a giggle at that then nodded for an answer.

"Good. You'll have to help me out on your favorite meals. I'm a decent cook so I think we could work something out for the road."

Suddenly my arm was being hugged. "Ral!" I guess it was true that the best way to the heart was through the stomach.

After we finished and paid for the meal we were back on our bikes and I was leading Simon to my apartment. It was a longer trip than our previous and traffic had picked up so it took us roughly twenty minutes to reach our destination. Once again, we locked our bikes and I led him to my family's place on the second floor.

Knowing it would be unlocked, I turned the handle to the door and entered with Simon behind me. I knew dad wouldn't be here due to his work stint in Sevii for a couple weeks yet. I spotted mom taking care of the dishes in the kitchen, looking our direction as she heard the door close.

"Well look at that, my son is still alive."

I winced. "I know, I know. Sorry, I ended up caught in all the excitement yesterday and it slipped my mind."

She shook her head. "And it won't be the last time knowing you. So, I see you made two different types of friends already. Hello, I'm Shauna and I'm Jason's mother and caretaker."

I twitched and looked at her in embarrassment. "It didn't happen that often! I just get caught up in books!"

She grinned back at me. "When I have to remind you to get your nose out of a book and eat, I'll call myself your caretaker."

I sighed. "Anyway, this is Simon. I agreed with his parents to be his mentor." Seeing her about to chime in, I quickly transitioned. "And the little lady on my shoulder is Clara. She's a ralts."

Her remark on the mentorship was simple. "I told you so." She then held her hand out to Clara who accepted it in a handshake. "I haven't seen one of your kind before. It's a pleasure to meet you, Clara. I hope you can keep my son in line for me as he travels."

I could see Simon smiling at us. "Moooom, come on, I'm not 'that' bad.."

"You're close at the least. It's too much fun to pick on you. Do you have a plan of travel now that you have Simon with you?"

"Yeah, he was working on getting Mauville's badge so we'll be riding over there. Beyond that, I haven't decided anything for myself."

"Good to hear. You should give it a shot while you're there. It might help you decide."

"I'll have to see if we're battle ready for it but I wouldn't be opposed to trying. I'm going to go get my clothes packed into this giant thing on my back and get on our way."

She motioned with her head to the couch beside me where I saw my folded clothes stacked up. "I set them out here when you told me you were coming. You'll go twice over your room again if I let you in there."

I scratched the back of my head. "Yeah, I suppose I would. Thanks, mom."

I set Clara down on the couch to slip off the pack and put my days' worth of clothes on the top of the pile of equipment in there. Returning my ralts to my shoulder, I gave my mom a hug. "I'll keep in touch, and yes, I'll remember this time. Wish me luck."

She smiled and hugged me back. "You won't need luck. I'll be cheering you on from here. You know your dad is, too."

I was surprised Simon had kept quiet all this time, noticing such when I turned to address him. "If we head out now we might be able to hit Mauville by nightfall. You think you're ready?"

He nodded at me. "You bet! That badge is mine!" His energy seemed to have recharged because he took off out the door to the stairs.

"You told me so, alright.." I turned back to my mom. "Have dad give me a call when he has the chance. I need to catch my young ward before he gets lost."

She laughed at that and I gave a small wave goodbye before I closed the door behind me.

Back on our bikes, I had one last stop to hit before leaving Rustboro. I stopped us next to a familiar haunt of a mine and went in with Clara to pick up the last essential I could think of. Not seeing him at the register, I popped my head into the back garage knowing from experience he didn't mind.

"Hey, Lazlo! I lied, I need one last thing!"

The old gearhead scooted out from under a motorcycle he was working on and raised his head up to spot me.

"Well, well, looks like you have your new partner in crime. What can I do ya for?"

I motioned with my thumb out front. "I need a front-load cushioned basket for the missus here. Going to be a long ride and I'd prefer not to have her cooped up for travel."

He waved in acknowledgement as he cleaned the grease from his hands with an old rag. "Pick one out and I'll be out in a second."

"Thanks, Lazlo."

Luckily he had a good one in stock. After meeting her approval, we chose a basket lined with weather-resistant leather. It was designed with passengers in mind so the bottom had a nice, soft give to it and even the sides were padded.

He looked it over as I placed it on the front counter. "Yeah, that style should hold up. I'll knock it off of your credit."

"I have enough for it?"

"With the time you put in around this place, consider it a travel present. I'll miss having ya around the shop. Bring her around the side and we'll get you set up."

"Heh, thanks, Lazlo. I'll be just a sec'."

He took the basket to the back and I went out front to my bike. After explaining to Simon that yes, it would be just a couple minutes more, I went through the side access into the garage proper. Attaching it to the front was simple enough, I just needed to get the mount balanced correctly so the basket was level. Once it was mounted, we popped her in to test and everything held up solid.

With everything set to get to travelling, I gave him a hug. "I'll see you around, old man. Now I promise the next time I see you I'll have a claim to fame."

He hugged back with a pat to my back. "Take care of your crew, Jas'. Good luck."

I gave a wave back in goodbye as I rode out of the garage. With a sad smile and an eager Simon, we left Rustboro behind.


	6. Chapter 6

"Ugh, my stomach hurrrrts.."

With the morning rush having come to a close in Rustboro, Simon and I made good time on reaching Route 116, however, one of us had been rushing a little too much. Seeing as we were approaching a rest stop for the foot route, it was as good of a time as any to start the teaching.

"Alright, pull over and we'll take a break." He groaned and followed behind me as I rode up and put the kickstand out near an open picnic table. As he was hopping off of his bike, I clapped my hands together and raised a finger.

"Lesson number one: pacing." I then pointed at the table. "Have a seat."

Having propped his bike up, he trudged to the table and sat down, his posture becoming a slump and his head resting upon on the table. I stood by the other side of the table and faced him with Clara in my arms.

"This applies beyond your stomach ache. Burning yourself or your 'mon out in training or a match hurts the both of you. It's why endurance is so important and why we're starting with it first. Rest up for a bit, I'm going to make a couple calls."

I walked a short distance away from the table, propped the pack under the bough of a shady tree and sat down on one of its roots to relax. I set Clara on my lap after fishing the 'dex out of my pocket. I collected myself with a sigh.

"I owe you that phone call. Let's see if we can get ahold of your parents."

That caught her attention and now we were both focusing upon the device's screen with equal intent. The contacts list only had two people registered - one for Professor Birch and a second labeled as 'Clara'. A touch of the screen over her name dialed the number.

I had to admit to apprehension over the call. I was about to talk to a trainer of not one, but two of the ralts line whose child was now in my care. The more sentient 'mon typically waited until full maturity for children so they would either be a pair of gardevoir or a gardevoir mother and a.. my mind drew a blank. Great, I know I know it, but I forgot the species of the males' evolution. Calm down, Jason!

The video call blinked to life and I was met with the sight of a gardevoir. I swore I felt Clara beaming with happiness as she waved to the screen. "Raaaal!" The gardevoir gave a smile and the two of them fell into a conversation I couldn't understand.

Judging by the tone of the voice, I assumed this was her father. As Clara talked, I watched him steal a couple glances towards me. I was brought out of my worries by the brush of Clara's hair against me when she nodded. I heard a muffled voice come from their side and he looked towards the next room over. A couple seconds later a brunette woman came into view along with what must've been Clara's mother.

"Alright, what's important enough that you need the both of us? You know we hate our girl time being interrupted."

He pointed to us and I watched her face morph from stern to a mute, blank rage as she took in the sight of Clara on my lap.

"Oh, me and him are going to share some words. He knows I don't like surprises."

She took the offered seat from Clara's father with him moving to stand with his mate behind their trainer. The woman gave a sigh and looked towards us. "Does he make the cut, Clara?"

Clara looked up at me for a second then returned her sight to the screen and gave a shrug.

"I get a shrug? Really?"

She fell into a giggle fit at my indignation, her amusement showing clearly to the other side of the call.

She raised an eyebrow at the sight. "Already a victim of her teasing? How long have you two known each other?"

"I met her," emphasizing the 'her' with a poke to the top of her head, "yesterday evening after she raided my berries."

She grinned. "You had her favorite, didn't you?"

"With the way she lights up, you would think orans were the fruit of the gods."

Both Clara and her mother nodded to that.

"Try to make sure she doesn't overindulge. She'll eat them to the point of a stomachache. Don't give me that look, it's true and you know it." Clara folded her arms and pouted.

A flash of insight crossed the woman's face. "Oh lords, we haven't done introductions. I'm Catherine Summers, her mother is Valerie, and her father is Jasper. They gave me the honor of naming their daughter and all three have rights to my last name. You wouldn't understand their true names as it's in their language, but that may happen given time."

"I'm Jason Alejandro from Rustboro. You learned their language?" The thought of it was too much to pass up.

"It took a few years of periodic study but our vocal cords are styled much the same. Having a strong telepathic bond really helps when it comes to learning the translations. As I said, given time I'm sure you two could forge the necessary bond for true telepathy."

Huh, I wonder if the world's different accents hurt the pronunciations of the words.

I blinked out of thought and ruffled Clara's hair. "Would you be available for a visit in the next couple of days? Clara is feeling a bit homesick and you might be able to put me on the right track with a couple things I'm curious about."

Catherine looked back to Clara's parents and they gave a nod towards her. "Yeah, we should be able to manage it. We've been taking a bit of a vacation. Where are you headed next?"

Clara was still trying to fix her hair and was probably shooting me a dirty look. "We'll be in Mauville for the next couple weeks. I'm mentoring a sophomore trainer from Littleroot and he's going for the badge."

Catherine tilted her head in thought. "Would Saturday afternoon at one at the Center work for you?"

I nodded. "Sounds good. I'll make a note of it."

"That'll do then. You mentioned you needed some advice?"

"Oh, it's nothing that can't wait until Saturday. Thanks for this. I'll see you then?"

She gave me a smile. "We'll see you then."

A tap of the screen ended call number one. I thumbed over to the other contact in the phone. In only a couple seconds I looked upon the face of Professor Birch.

Clara gave a wave. "Ral!"

He waved back with a smile. "Hi there, Clara! Jason! I was curious when I was receiving a call off of my direct line. What can I do for you both?"

"Two things, Professor. First, I need to be placed as Simon Langford's mentor. I was brought home for dinner and ended up hired. How do I go about making that official?"

"Made a fan on your first day, did you?" He chuckled at that. "It's pretty simple, I'll send the file over to you. It's a short contract with some basic information you need to fill out and it needs a signature from all parties involved."

"Three fans actually: Leslie, a girl at the market, and him." A notification popped up in the lower right corner of the screen with Birch's face and a file name. "It went through. Thanks."

"No problem. What's the second thing?"

"Oh, just a bit of a warning. You might've forgotten to make a call." I accented that by pointing down at Clara.

A narrowing of eyes then the dawn of understanding rose on his face and it was a perfect picture of horror.

I waved. "Good luck, Professor!" And that ended the second call.

I knew I still had that receipt in my pocket but if I were honest with myself my finals were less stressful than the thought of handling a girl who might be interested in me. I'll save it for when we've settled for the night. I returned Clara to my shoulder and begrudgingly stood myself up and lugged the pack back over to the table where Simon still lay.

I prodded him. "Hey, you alive?"

He lightly jolted and looked up. "Huh?"

"I'm done with my calls. Are you ready to get back on the.." A distant explosion interrupted me and not a second later it rained dirt.

I brushed my head and shoulder clean, grateful that none hit Clara, then turned over to the field I had previously paid no mind. Two teenagers were having a battle between their mightyena and lairon and a stray attack had rent a trench in the side of the field.

I yelled over to them. "Hey, watch the collateral!"

The response I received was classy. "Piss off!"

I sighed and shook my head. "Come on, Simon. Let's get out of here before one of us gets hit. It's like they've never heard of the Code of Conduct."

Simon looked from the field and back to me. "B-but.. it's a battle!"

"There will be plenty around Mauville where we don't have to take a bath afterwards. I'll even personally battle you, but we need to get back on the road."

That lit him right up. "Alright, you're on! Let's go!"

Well, I found my easy diplomacy. I managed to maneuver the pack onto my back with Clara in my arms before I put her back on my shoulder. Returning to our bicycles, which I had to clean out her basket from dirt that had managed to fly into it, we continued on to Mauville.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Traversing the recently renovated Rusturf Tunnel was a beautiful, surreal experience with all the lights we rhythmically pedalled past and its end was a landmark for our location. It was one food break, the Tunnel, and late-afternoon before we had finally pedalled our way to the outskirts of Verdanturf Town. Simon wasn't used to cycling distances like I was used to and we stopped for him to catch his breath many a time in the hours we spent travelling between the cities.

I could tell he was really flagging at this point. "Hey, why don't we stop here for the night and get to Mauville tomorrow? We could take it easy and get some dinner."

Simon answered me with a pant. "Sounds.. good.."

I had nothing against Rustboro, hometown pride and all, but exiting the Tunnel to Verdanturf was a breath of fresh air - figuratively and literally. Verdanturf had most of the large city amenities without the bustling downtown feel. All-in-all it gave off a suburban vibe. While it lacked an official gym, the town was a major host on the contest circuit and drew a great appeal – pun unintended – to the coordinating crowd of not only Hoenn but also the regions beyond.

Luckily, or planned as such, the Center was straight down the road once we entered town from the route. Verdanturf's Center was nothing near the size of Rustboro's but was still large enough to almost always have vacancies available for trainers. This was the case as, after parking and locking up our bikes in the side lot, we procured a room .

We took enough time to drop our packs off in our room before heading down to the cafeteria. It was a pleasant affair; a decent meal accompanied by the ambiance of a low din of voices from others within the hall. As time went on, Clara moved closer and closer to me on our bench seat with particularly loud noises making her startle.

Simon's food went down in record time. "Are we going to battle now? You said you would battle!"

I swallowed then pointed my fork at him. "I said I would personally battle. Are you interested in watching Chub and Radar throw me around?"

"Why can't you battle with Clara?"

"I've been with her all of one day; I don't know her strengths or weaknesses and she has no experience reacting to my calls. Beyond that, I won't make her fight unless she wants to."

Simon turned his puppy eyes to her and clasped his hands together. "Please, Clara?"

I turned my attention to the ralts stood beside and leaning lightly against me. I gently nudged her side with my elbow. She looked up from her salad as a tiny tomato made its way into her mouth.

"Don't let Simon's begging influence the decision, but would you be willing to do a spar where neither of us make calls?" She tilted her head at me and I clarified. "He's had two months worth of teamwork so this is the only thing I can think of to make it a bit more even."

She mulled it over for a second then nodded with a smile, fist pumping outward with the little plastic fork in hand. I nodded back.

"Alright, Simon. Clara against Radar and we can't give any instructions. What do you say?"

He scrunched his face. "But don't we tell them moves when we battle?"

"Yes, typically it's for your advantage unless you lack synergy with your partner either through disagreement or lack of practice. However, it's just as important for your partners to be able to make calls where their instincts trump our logic. Autonomy is an aspect of battle that doesn't receive a lot of focus. Think of it as a training session."

The light returned to his eyes. "Alright! Let's go!"

Only to go dim again. "Right after we finish eating. Right, Clara?"

And so we returned to our meals as Simon sulked.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Parks were quite common in the major cities and battlefields were a staple in every one. A quick check of the local map on my 'dex directed us to one a couple blocks away. I knew it was simple enough to walk it, so we eschewed our bikes in favor of the light exercise. We arrived to a beautiful, floral walkthrough. Simon, however, wanted none of that so we passed it by as we crossed the open field to its side and into an open challenge area.

I could only think of a couple things to help Clara given what I knew about Simon. I kneeled and set her down as I drew what strategy I could together. They'd been together for two months and he admitted to one month of that being light training. I could only bank on it so much, but I'd guess him focusing on one or two fields in that time.

I looked down to her. "I don't think he's focused too much on training accuracy. Try keeping mid-range and if you need to, use short-range teleports to evade. Beyond any of that, trust your instincts and do your best, win or lose." I smiled and ruffled her hair.

I could see Simon bouncing on the balls of his feet beside his mudkip so I motioned him over to the side where a referee would normally stand and joined him there.

Simon was giddy. "I can't believe I get to be your first battle!"

I watched the two converse across the field. "Looks like they'll take it easy. Remember, no calls. This is to see how well they can react on their own. It'll both gauge their natural skill as well as help you understand our role in battles."

"Oh, man! I can't believe we're going to face a ralts in battle!"

I shook my head with a chuckle. 'His own little world..'

The pair were looking over to us and I nodded. "If you two are ready I'll call to start. Usual rules apply: No intentional injuries. Stay within the field. I can call the match at any time."

They both gave me a nod then turned to stare the other down. I took a deep breath.

"Begin!"

Radar didn't hesitate and spat a thin, yet quick stream of water which covered the twenty-foot span between them in a second. Clara, surprised at the speed of the attack, had just enough time to glance beside Radar and teleport. Now merely a couple feet away, she focused her power and pushed her arms forward. Radar launched off of his feet and landed in a tumble a foot away, rolling from the psychic force.

"Come on, Radar! You can get her!" Simon couldn't hold back his cheers as I watched for details. Despite taking no damage, Clara was lightly panting after a twenty-foot teleport and Confusion. I couldn't tell which of the two fatigued her more. That was something I'd have to ask her and Catherine about.

Radar finished the tumble on his feet and his eyes immediately found their opponent. He ripped into the ground with a blast of pressurized water and slung the ensuing mud at Clara with his tailfin. Clara went wide-eyed and tried teleporting forward under the wave. Unfortunately, the top of her head was clipped by the mud and it sent her sprawling backwards.

Radar stopped at that but it seemed Clara wasn't finished. As she lifted her head up, her eyes were glowing and blades of grass floated in the air beside her. These blades suddenly became literal as she infused her power into them, the spinning leaves of power forced forward towards the mudkip. Just as they approached the shocked water-type, the power within them seemed to fizzle. Radar took this opportunity to launch himself sideways to evade the projectiles and began to charge towards Clara.

Clara was visibly fatigued at this point and in desperation she drew on her psychic powers and launched some of the previously made mud forward to try to stop his charge. Radar blasted forward with a stream of water and parted the mud before him, then landed a full body tackle into the exhausted ralts. She launched backwards a couple body lengths until she landed on her back, lying there with heavy breaths.

I called the match there. "Clara is unable to continue battling. The victory goes to Radar!"

Simon cheered and rushed to his mudkip, picking him up in a hug. I jogged over to Clara and kneeled down.

I was so proud of her. "Are you ok, little lady?"

She was still panting from exertion but she met my eyes and nodded. Now that I was close, I could say that the mud caked in her hair made it look much worse than it was. Thankfully, she was just tired and messy.

I rubbed a bit of the dirt off of her and smiled. "You did great. We'll make those leaves of yours work yet."

She grinned back as I scooped her up into my arms. Simon now had Chub out and was regaling him about the battle that just occurred, hand gestures and all. I walked over to the trio.

"Good battle, you two. Now she needs a bath, though."

Radar at least had the decency to look sheepish at that as Simon was still in victory mode with the mudkip in his arms. "We won! We won!"

I chuckled. "Yes, yes. You won, you won. Let's get back before it's dark. I have to clean up the little lady and take care of a couple things before I can sleep."

We all remained in high spirits as we entered our room at the Center. Simon and his duo immediately commandeered one of the beds and took to the television. I grabbed a change of nightclothes then carted Clara into the bathroom and proceeded to wash her hair clean.

It took a couple rinses to get the dirt out of her hair, but the shampoo worked well and before long her hair was back to its natural silky state. A rinse of the lather off of her body and a quick towel dry and she was on her way to join the others while I showered myself clean. I could've slept then and there under the hot water but knew I had a couple things yet to do beside soak myself. Nonetheless, I could feel the tension leave my shoulders and I was grateful that it was gone.

I exited the bathroom while in the process of slipping my shirt on, my other arm laden with the day's clothes. "Bathroom's open."

He blinked at me before that seemed to register. "Oh! Come on Radar, bath time!" He scrounged some clothes together out of his backpack while I got comfortable on my bed. Chub was passed out on his back on the other bed. Clara, ever curious, decided to join me while I fished my 'dex and that receipt out of my old pants' pocket.

"Ral?"

I looked beside me to see her peering at me questioningly with her hand over her mouth.

I chuckled and gave her a one-armed hug. "Adulty stuff. I'm signing for the mentorship contract and sending it to his parents and getting your favorite berry vendor into my contacts list. If you ever need a snack, they're in the top left pouch of the pack. I need to go through that in the morning. I swear there's an iron cookpot in there or something. I mean, really, it weighs like sixty pounds. If it weren't for the shower, I don't know if I could take another day with it on my back.."

I felt a tap on my hand and my focus returned to reality. I grinned down at her. "Hah, rambling. Got it. Let's get this taken care of so we can hibernate."

And so was the hour spent, the muffled sounds of water falling and light chatter providing background noise to my electronic affairs. I tended to the contract first. It was a straightforward document. As I wasn't looking for specific pay, I simply filled out some of the terms I'd like, signed my name, and sent it to Anna after getting the contact number out of Simon's 'dex.

Shrugging with my lips, I turned the receipt over in my hand and punched the numbers into my contact list. I didn't really know what to say, so I decided some details about the day would suffice as a first message. I began to type.

'Hey, Amelia! It's Jason. We've stopped for the night in Verdanturf and will be in Mauville for a couple weeks once we reach it tomorrow. Clara was in her first spar this evening. It was a loss but I couldn't be happier for her ability. I can only hope I can help to bring out the best in her for her sake. She deserves it. Wasn't sure what all you'd want to hear so send me a message back. I'll check it in the morning before we set out.'

A tap of my finger and it was sent. Well, the 'adulty' stuff was over.

Having taken care of what I needed to, I decided to write a little bit about the day. A diary for my journey wouldn't be too bad of an idea. I snapped a picture of our room and its occupants as Simon walked out of the bathroom, still mildly wet.

"What's that for?"

I shrugged. "Figured I'd make a travel log of sorts. Something for us to look back on one day."

"Cool. Come on Chub, you know I don't fit on the bed when you sleep like that. My legs are killing me.."

"Heh, then I'd recommend not trying on my pack. It'll make your shoulders feel the same."

He looked over to it as if to measure it up and then shivered. "Noooo thank you.."

I set Clara's ball and my 'dex on the end table between the beds and slipped under the blankets, Clara joining me while resting her head on a flatter pillow. "Do you want an alarm set for us to head out at any certain time?"

His face squinted as he thought it over. "Nine. We can do some training in Mauville tomorrow."

I nodded at that and set up the room's clock as such. "Alright. I'll probably be up beforehand but I'll be sure to get you up around then."

I flicked the overhead bed lights off and turned to him. "Don't stay up too late watching tv. I'll be out like a light so don't worry about it bothering me. Goodnight, Simon."

He replied the same from his bed, Radar and Chub both resting on the bed to his side. I rolled over and came face-to-face with a pair of red eyes.

"If you need anything during the night, wake me up. It won't be a bother. Are you feeling a little better?"

She nodded with a pout. The sight of her face made me silently laugh to myself. "Hey, we'll get 'em next time." I kissed the top of her head. "I'm proud of you."

I would swear that she was glowing with her smile. I closed my eyes with that sight still in mind. "Sleep well, Clara. I'm here if you need me."

"Ralts.."


	7. Chapter 7

The sunrise came all too soon. I always slept the best after a full day of cycling. I gave my morning stretch and felt the light burn in my calves. Maybe I needed to take breaks for myself today. It had been some months since I'd rode such a distance in one go. Studies had taken priority over my riding, sadly.

Sleep quality was probably the only reason I was up this early, as well. The electronics once again agreed with me, as it was seven. Gave me time for a morning walk around at least. My movement caused the bed's other occupant to stir as well. She looked over to me with a sleepy blink.

I whispered. "You can stay in bed if you'd like. I'm just up early. Going to take a small walk around town."

She hummed and tugged the blankets over her further. I didn't blame her.

Quietly, so as not to wake Simon, I went about getting ready for the day. I exchanged the clothes I had unceremoniously tossed beside the bed with a new outfit from the pack and changed and got ready in the bathroom. Leaving a note for him in case he woke up before I was back, I made sure to grab my 'dex and set the alarm for nine before leaving then set out into the still sleepy streets.

I was content to wander aimlessly. A few cars travelled the roads and even fewer people joined me on the sidewalks. I passed one of the official League marts but I held off on purchases as I still needed to go through my pack yet to see if I needed anything major. Procrastination had got the better of me on that. Before long, my walk led me to the massive stadium that housed the Contest Circuit in Verdanturf. I thought it over then shrugged and entered.

The reception area reminded me of a larger, fancier version of a movie theater I had gone to in Rustboro. The walls held monitors, or were monitors, that broadcasted previous events and some of the flashier appeals of recent note. The concession stand and ticket booth were empty – no contests today apparently – but a couple people had their pokemon out and were chatting with each other.

A bright flicker from the wall beside me drew my attention back to the monitors. Being shown now was an appeal from the semi-finals of last month's sophomore major held here. A boy took the stage in regular attire, as costume wasn't being scored, and called out a pokemon I wouldn't have guessed.

'Let's put on our show, Caldera!'

In a flash of smoke and fire a camerupt appeared front and center with a loud bellow. With a flourish of his arm, the boy gave his next command.

'Set the stage!'

From the twin stacks upon its back red hot rock erupted and rained upon the stage and littered the ground with gravel. It spoke measures to its control that a circle of bare stage surrounded the two.

'Now light the skies!'

The gravel rose and clustered into five separate balls that hovered in the air around the duo. First, a pair, and then the other three soared into the air above them and burst outward into embers like fireworks before all coming together in a single ball. With a snap of his fingers, the orb of earth exploded out to cover the full stage in glowing coals, wisps of the dust burning out just before reaching the stands. The pair bowed as the last motes fizzled out to the fanfare of the entire crowd.

I had almost decided to use my last two years of schooling to become licensed as a Coordinator. The couple career aptitude tests given during high school had me more pinned as an engineer, and I had plenty of time to decide on a non-Training job, but there was something about being able to make imagination come to life with pokemon abilities. The career counselor was the one to give me the advice that led me to choose the electives I did and learn more about how pokemon could do what they did.

Power was like a muscle where you could work at gaining more in a fairly straightforward manner. Control, however, required knowledge and understanding. So, I signed myself up for a grueling course list of deep sciences and entry-level university work that I regretted almost instantly. I lost nearly every scrap of free time I had with my nose in a book trying to fully understand the concepts being presented to me. In exchange, I was able to see a glimpse of what truly happened in that appeal.

Most immediately think of the psychic type when it comes to manipulating objects, but in truth every type could control their aura outside of their bodies with varying difficulty. That appeal was a manipulation of ground and fire type aura on a scale I'd never seen before. These were the moments I had to remind myself to be mature with my envy. I could be great regardless of the fact a boy a few years my junior had enough practical experience to create fireworks with his camerupt.

A flash from a colorful commercial blinked me back to reality. I walked to a nearby table and picked up a pamphlet on the Contest Circuit. It was something I could leaf through and ask Clara about. It'd give me a good idea at what she'd like to do at least. Maybe I'd look back into my old school journals to rehash some ideas while I was at it.

I slowly paced myself back towards the Center, idly flicking through the pages as I let my thoughts wander. I was cautious entering the room to keep quiet but it seemed I didn't need to as Simon and his two were spread out on the bed watching television. The sound of the door shutting drew their attention and Simon's eyes were on me as I entered the room and seated myself next to my less sleepy bedmate. He looked to my pamphlet and grimaced.

"Aw, I thought you were cool. You want to do contests?"

I didn't skip a beat as I tapped him on the head with the paperwork and then chuckled at him. "I want to do what my team wants to do, whether it be battles, contests, or otherwise. Don't worry about popularity until you can get to a point where you can earn it." Turning off the yet-to-go-off alarm, I finally went about grabbing my giant hiker's pack and opening it up for inventory, setting aside my packed clothing.

"Alright, let's see what we got in here. Lords know it was heavy enough to lug around."

All in all I wasn't too surprised with the contents. There were more campfire tools than the essentials with a foldable grill-top setup for cooking over fires alongside a fish descaler as our main meat intake in Hoenn was from non-sentient seafood. Simon watched on as I set aside things like striking flint and different sized but matching sleeping bags. Clara's bag even seemed to be ready for her evolutions with how it was adjustable. The bottom of the pack had the items that surprised me.

The solar-powered radio was a nice thing to have to save charge on our handhelds and certainly had better speakers. The emergency medicines were pricier than I'd have expected to be given for free, but definitely something nice to have on hand just in case. It was the innocuous album laying at the bottom that got to me the most. It was a picture album consisting of different moments of Clara's life. I only glanced through the first pages right now as too much more and I'd be starting the day off emotionally and we still had to make it to Mauville. It was definitely something I'd be looking through tonight.

"Wow, they gave you a lot of stuff."

I sighed. "Yeah, it's why I was putting off looking through it. I have to pack it all back up. Why don't you go get ready for the day while I take care of this stuff. We can get some breakfast and head out here shortly."

He turned off the tv and hopped off the bed onto his feet. "Sure, I'll be out in a few!"

So began my repacking in relative silence. I felt the eyes upon me even before I'd started but I wanted to see how long it would take to make her act. To her credit, she lasted fifteen seconds longer than I thought she would, and ended the timer by poking me firmly in the cheek. I finished zipping up the pack to turn to her pouting face.

"I'm sorry for ignoring you, but I thought this would be my easiest way to test your patience. I needed you to not know I was testing you. You did very well. Will you forgive your poor trainer for tricking you?"

I put on the saddest face I could. It got me poked on the nose. I rubbed the spot.

"Alright, alright.. If you promise not to tell anyone, you can have anything you want for breakfast."

She folded her arms and tilted her head.

I sighed and dropped my head down in defeat. "Yes, anything."

"Ralts." She hugged the top of my head and I laughed.

"I'm starting to wonder who's training who around here."

She giggled and pointed to herself.

"Ain't that the truth.. Alright, let's pick up a bit and then we can set out for the day."

I set Clara on Simon's bed as I worked the sheets and pillows back into place on mine. Just because someone would come through to tidy the room up after we left didn't mean we should leave it in a poor state. Simon came out to the sight of me fluffing the pillows.

"Please tell me you're not one of those people.."

I looked over in confusion from where I was hunched over the bed. "What?"

"With the fluffy pillows and the towels you can't use and the fancy soaps. Bleh!"

I could only look at him incredulous with an eyebrow raised. "Um.. no? If you're talking about me making the bed, it's just common courtesy to pick up after yourself in a place that isn't yours."

"But why when you don't have to do it?"

"Well.. I guess you'd call it one of those grown-up things. The pretty answer is it shows you're thinking about more than yourself. My reason is my parents made me when I was younger. You're right that we don't have to but I'm sure it would show your parents that you're serious about being responsible and it would be a step towards being able to travel alone."

He sighed in defeat. "Fine.. It's fun travelling with you though."

I gave a half-smile as I picked Clara up so he could make the bed. "Thanks, but I'm going to be a lot less fun once we start training. I'm going to head down and put in for breakfast. I'm trusting you to check us out at the front desk, alright?"

"Sure, I'll be just a minute."

After having grabbed the pack and essentials, I quietly walked to the cafeteria with Clara on my shoulder. After some of our charades, Clara gave her breakfast request. I knew it was a bad idea as I was ordering it but a promise was a promise and so I could only watch on at the monster that was being created in her having an oran berry pancake. I swore I could feel her happiness as she ate her new favorite food.

Simon came down not too long after we seated ourselves and within the hour we were exiting Verdanturf with filled bellies and high hopes.

Mauville City put us back into the heart of urban life. Known as the Crossroads of Hoenn, Mauville drew in tourists and trainers alike due to its location in the center of the continent. Thankfully, tourist season hadn't started yet so travelling through the streets was still bearable. With any luck it would mean there'd be readily available training facilities as well.

I stopped us after our couple hour ride at a rest area near the city limits to give Simon's lungs a break and to look up a hotel to get situated in. Clara had hopped out of her basket to sit beside me on the picnic table, snacked on the remainder of the berries we had, and watched as I used my 'dex to browse for a reasonably priced mid-grade hotel to spend the next couple weeks in. If it was a single night I wouldn't care as much, but might as well be comfortable at the end of the day for after the physical training I was going to put us through. Softer beds were best for aching muscles.

We followed my G.P.S. app to our new temporary home to drop off our excess baggage and to swap into more fitting clothes for the workout, then headed on our bikes to a nearby gym/training complex. The younger generation automatically attached the term 'Gym' to the League, but it also referred to a place of physical improvement. Access to some light weights and a calm environment would be a great help.

Parking our bikes then getting situated in our own little section in the back, I began walking Simon and our 'mon through some basic stretches, a couple having to be adjusted for Radar's quadrupedal frame.

"We're only going to do some light training today. I'll ramp up the difficulty over this next week until we get to what will be our daily schedule. You might be frustrated with not seeing results instantly but this is the best for long term improvement. However, you have the final say. It's your team and your training and I'm sure things will need to be adjusted either way." With that I gave a small shrug. "Remember, I'm new to this as well. I have a lot of theory but I'm sure things'll change as we go."

I wasn't sure how much of that Simon heard as all I saw was a fire in his eyes.

"We'll train and train until I can win the league and you.. well.. you can make Clara into a big, bad gardevoir! Yeah! She'll fly, and shoot lasers, and win every battle!"

Clara had her hand over her mouth and was distant in thought. I was glad Moonblast was a very far away concept because maybe in a couple years she could be responsible with the power of fairy lasers.

"It might not seem like it, but this is going to be a step towards firing larger energy blasts."

Simon looked down at his legs then looked back up at me. "Stretching?"

I laughed. "No, Simon, strength training. Even if Radar were capable of firing an amount of water that qualified as a Hydro Pump, his legs wouldn't be strong enough to hold him in place. He'd be knocked backwards with almost the same force he was giving." I didn't want to derail the message with the fact that this opposing force could be used in unorthodox manners in battle.

Standing up from his calf stretches, he bounced on his feet. "Let's get started then!"

And we did. Two hours of touching on different muscle groups and core, leg, and arm strengthening. To be fair, Simon didn't start complaining until a half-hour in, so maybe to some degree he knew this was rough but possible. I could tell I was paying for slacking off in my routine due to being worried over finals. Even I felt a burn as we headed back to the hotel for the night.

Another change of clothes and we caught our breath relaxing back on our beds. "It gets better with time. Rest up. Everyone will need to stay out of their balls at night while we're going through this to promote the muscle growth." I heard a trio of groans. "Sorry guys, not doing it to make you suffer but the balls default you on entry so you'd be sore just the same when we let you out and a healing machine would rid you of the damage, which wouldn't make the muscles grow stronger."

Simon groaned and rolled over to face me. "How can you still be all smart when we hurt like this? I can barely think."

I chuckled then helped Clara and I under the sheets. I could tell she was grateful by the way she flopped onto the pillow like the dead. "I'd been exercising to some degree since I was young. Did sports clubs early on until I went full academic in high school. I've spent a lot of my life preparing for these days, so I'm glad I only hurt a little for it. It'll take a while but you'll get used to the workout with time. I'm beat though, so I'll see ya in the morning."

A mumble of agreement and the lights turning off led to a good night's sleep.

I added a half hour each day for the next four days, splitting the sessions between one in the morning and evening. There was a small session in the afternoons for going over elemental techniques and light sparring with the rest of the day being mealtime, downtime, or helping Simon get ideas for his upcoming gym battle.

Soon enough it was Saturday and I gave Simon the day off so I could meet up with Catherine and Clara's parents.


End file.
